Berlin: US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said an agreement to implement the bilateral nuclear deal was “doable”.
The two leaders, who met for 10 minutes at the G-8 summit, said they were committed to an agreement acceptable to India and the US.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters that the two leaders felt the nuclear deal is “doable” and are optimistic. India has agreed to set up a dedicated safeguarded facility for reprocessing atomic fuel in an effort to break the logjam over the nuclear deal.
Asked whether Indian expectations from the meeting were met, Menon said: "We expected a short meeting. This is not a forum for formal negotiations."
Both Bush and Singh expressed satisfaction at the state of Indo-US relations. The leaders talked about issues in the relationship and how to carry it forward and said "They look forward to seeing this transformed relationship which 'we enjoy today' being taken further in various respects."
The Foreign Secretary said National Security Adviser M K Narayanan met his American counterpart Stephen Hadley separately but did not divulge what transpired at the meeting.
The Prime Minister also inquired about Bush's health after he suffered a stomach ailment to which the U.S leader said he had a digestive problem.
As Singh met Bush at the German sea resort of Helligendamm, officials of India and the U.S discussed in detail the proposal under which New Delhi will negotiate with the IAEA a higher level of safeguards at the dedicated reprocessing facility.
Narayanan and Hadley deliberated on the proposal aimed at breaking the impasse. The proposal was made to find a way out of the problem in talks over 123 agreement due to differing positions over the reprocessing issue.
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