FT Syndication Service
TOYAKO (Japan): A long-awaited meeting between US president George W Bush and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh ended Wednesday without a formal announcement that India is ready to implement their bilateral accord on civil nuclear power.
Instead, the two countries leaders used the meeting - on the fringes of the G8 summit in Japan - to lavish praise on each other. They hailed the growing strength of their bilateral relationship, which they said included nuclear cooperation but extended to other issues such as trade and the environment.
"I am very pleased with the state of our relationship, which has truly acquired the characteristic of a genuine strategic partnership," said Mr Singh.
He said that it was the will of the Indian people - "particularly the thinking segments of our population" - that the US and India should "stand shoulder to shoulder" on all the big global challenges. He added: "That is what is going to happen."
However, Mr Singh made no reference to the prospects for the implementation of the nuclear treaty beyond stating that there had been "progress on nuclear cooperation."
Mr Bush was slightly more explicit, saying: "We talked about the India-US nuclear deal, and how important that is for our respective countries."
He appeared to praise Mr Singh for indicating his willingness to start the implementation process in spite of the withdrawal of India's Communist parties from his governing coalition, saying "congratulations on your leadership at home."
Mr Singh recently recruited a new coalition ally - the regional Samajwadi party - in an attempt to ensure that his government can implement the nuclear accord, although it now lacks a formal majority in parliament.
Speculation had mounted that Mr Singh would use the bilateral meeting with Mr Bush to announce that India was proceeding to implement the treaty. But no such announcement materialised.
US officials - who had cautioned in advance that Mr Singh might need a little more time to finalise his political arrangements at home - remained confident that India was about to proceed.
However, they said time was getting very tight to secure ratification of the treaty in the US Congress before the November elections. Administration officials calculate that there are only 31 legislative days left before the election, with other issues competing for legislators' time.
The US has urged India not to take the risk that a new administration and a new Congress might take a less favourable view of the nuclear treaty.
