Rice makes nuclear deal palatable to India

NEW DELHI: India and the United States seem to have succeeded in clinching the last-minute breakthrough that will see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush formalise the nuclear deal in some form when they meet in New Delhi on March 2.

Both sides continued to play coy on the eve of the visit, but there were indications that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the harbinger of news for which the Indians had been waiting anxiously.

Rice spoke to Singh on Monday night, after which government sources indicated on Tuesday that a deal is on the cards. The sources said the deal may be inked by the two leaders in the form of a declaration of intent. They remained tight-lipped about the details.

With expectations of a successful end to three months of hard negotiations running high, Singh on Tuesday decided to go the extra mile for Bush. He will dispense with protocol to receive his guest at the airport on Wednesday night.

The importance of the nuclear deal was underlined by Singh in an interview to journalist Charlie Rose, telecast in the US on Monday. He described it as “an act of historic reconciliation” and said it would be a great contribution by Bush towards ending India’s nuclear isolation.

The final push for an agreement came from the Bush-Rice team, which is keen to showcase Indo-US relations as a foreign policy success. Singh’s statement in Parliament laying out the parameters for an agreement, paved the way for Bush to get the green signal from Congress.