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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Washington this week and, in addition to meeting with President Bush, will address a joint session of Congress - an indicator of the dramatic change in the once-chilly relationship between India and the US. Equally remarkable has been the upturn in the India-Pakistan relationship, which the Bush administration has helped promote. But by doggedly opposing the projected gas pipeline from Iran across Pakistan to India, the administration is still forgoing a key opportunity to bind India and Pakistan together further, while also engaging Iran and giving it a greater stake in the stability...

Are you surprised by the rapid rapprochement between India and the United States, so visible during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington last month? After all, who isn’t? If any one had told you a couple of months ago that the weakest Congress government in India’s independent history, which survives on the support of the Left parties so hostile to Indo-US relations, would sign two unprecedented pacts with the United States in a matter of three weeks, you would have asked him to go get his head examined. But that precisely is what has happened. India signed a 10-year...

WHEN John Walton, the heir to the Wal-Mart retail family's vast fortune, was killed in a plane crash three weeks ago, the story was reported in most of India's national newspapers, along with the details of his life.New Delhi's often insular press does not usually dwell in much detail on anything other than the most important international news; but attention these days is intensely focused on the US business world, particularly conglomerates such as Wal-Mart. The Indian media has pored over the US supermarket giant's efforts to break into the local retail sector, an untapped gold mine long closed to...

There are moments in history when hyperbole is not enough. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the United States was surely one such, a moment that defied expectations, broke orthodoxy and aligned two major forces of the world, one gathering and the other already in place. After three decades of fighting the discriminatory international nuclear regime, India won its case on merit. The US made a historic pact with India, recognising it as a nuclear power with full rights and responsibilities and promising "full civil nuclear energy cooperation". President George Bush succeeded in taking the ultimate "transformational step" with regard...

THOUGH all Australian eyes were on John Howard in Washington this week, the big action in the global capital was taking place with another, altogether more unlikely, prime minister. In one of those moments when you can feel the tectonic plates of geo-strategic power shifting, US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were transforming the global equations. But first a little background. Some little time ago a senior US defence official received an admiral of the Indian navy. The Indian admiral explained that his country's military doctrine envisaged in due course Indian nuclear-armed submarines permanently in...

Haroon Siddiqui says India is now among America's closest allies America is disliked around the world, including in Canada, but its popularity is soaring in India. That nugget in a recent 16-nation survey represents a remarkable development. It shows how quickly and how much India has changed. Also how America, under Bill Clinton and, mostly, George W. Bush, has wooed India and the other emerging giant, China. Washington is abuzz as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives at the White House tomorrow and addresses a joint session of Congress. This is the backdrop against which Indians emerge as the exception...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has set a dangerous precedent by moving to lift a ban on civilian nuclear technology sale to nuclear armed India, which has not signed up to global non-proliferation rules, some analysts and lawmakers said. The warning came as a bipartisan energy panel of the US House of Representatives adopted a resolution Tuesday preventing export of nuclear technology to India and other countries not party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and which have detonated a nuclear device. "We are playing with fire by picking and choosing when to pay attention to the existing...

President Bush met today with Australia‘s President John Howard, welcoming him to the White House, after which the two had a joint press conference regarding the shared goals of our two countries in winning the War on Terror. First Lady Laura later attended an exhibition of Winslow Homer at the National Gallery of Art with Australia’s First Lady, Janette Howard and her son Richard. It was also announced today that the President would be making a prime time announcement at 9:00 this evening to reveal the name (after much speculation), of his Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring Sandra Day...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told the U.S. Congress his country and the United States need to work together to confront the threats terrorism poses to democracies. The Indian leader addressed a joint meeting of Congress Tuesday, also touching on the issue of nuclear proliferation. Prime Minister Singh observed that the world's largest democracy, and the world's oldest have much in common. The open society and economy of the United States, he said, have attracted the brightest young minds from India, transcending distance and differences between the two countries. He said India is poised to take advantage of a...

Washington's decision to reopen access for India to civil nuclear technology is another example of the Bush administration's engagement of the South Asian nation as a counterweight to China, Indian analysts said on Tuesday. "People have it in their minds that in Asia it should not be a wholly China-dominated scene," former Indian foreign secretary Salman Haider told AFP. "Japan has become more assertive and we are seen as a potential counter balance. Whether it should take the form of rivalry with China, that's a separate question. I think the United States would like to bring us into play (vis-a-vis...

Washington, July 18: President George W. Bush on Monday said US looked forward to building a strong economic relationship with India for economic prosperity and peace. Welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur on the lawns of the White House at the beginning of his three-day state visit, Bush said US and India has developed a relationship of great potential and we are looking to expanding our strong relationship for economic development and peace and prosperity. Bush said the relations between the two countries had never been so strong and referred to the growing cooperation between the...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs Gursharan Kaur will get a taste, literally, of White House hospitality at the gala dinner tonight. The White House has a long tradition of dining table finesse and protocol, even within the pantry, that has been perfected over scores of years, and its chefs are known to be among some of the best in the country. Interestingly, the dinner menu comes from the office of First Lady Laura Bush. Here's a quick look at what's on Dr Singh's table tonight. In literal terms, that is a saffron silk tablecloth, topped with trumpeting elephants made...

PM agrees to IAEA scrutiny, moratorium on N-tests, adherence to MTCR ----- The US has decided to treat India at par with recognised nuclear weapon states and accord it all their "benefits and advantages". This includes nuclear fuel supplies for safeguarded civilian nuclear reactors at Tarapore. US President George Bush will work to remove Congressional constraints that stand in the way of American supplies of nuclear fuel and dual use technology to India. He will also work with other recognised nuclear power countries towards this end. In turn, India has "reciprocally" agreed to assume "responsibilities and practices" of leading countries...

Now in progress..The President will participate in a Joint Press Availability with the Prime Minister of India.

President Bush welcomes Indian Prime Minister Manmohan to the White House. There is an official arrival ceremony, later they hold talks in the Oval Office and give joint press availability. They then met with US India chief executive officer forum members in the Blue Room. They are due to dine together this evening On Saturday Vice President Dick Cheney completed his annual physical at which it was discovered that he has a mild case of esophagitis and some small dilation of the arteries behind both knees. Australian Prime Minister John Howard is currently on a visit to Washington he attended...

ROVE-LESS?: Guest List of White House State Dinner... But Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 'in' Mon Jul 18 2005 20:27:18 ET Guests and menua at the White House dinner given by President and Mrs. Bush for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur, as released by the White House: Chilled Asparagus Soup Lemon Creme Chappellet Chardonnay Napa Valley 2003 Pan-roasted Halibut Ginger-Carrot Butter Basmati Rice with Pistachios and Currants Herbed Summer Vegetables Trio of Celery Hearts, Leaves and Roots Hartford Court Pinot Noir Arrendell 2002 Salad of Bibb Lettuces Citrus Vinaigrette Lotus Blossom Mango, Chocolate-Cardamom and...

There's a big black-tie dinner at the White House tonight. President Bush will don a tuxedo and might even stay up past 10. This is, as they say in Texas, rarer than hen's teeth. The dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (technically an "official" instead of "state" dinner because Singh is head of government but not the state) is notable as one of the few grand parties of this administration. The White House has hosted only four state dinners since Bush took office in 2001; the last one was held in October 2003 for the president of Kenya. It's...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is due to hold talks with US President George W Bush on the opening day of a landmark visit to the country. The two leaders are expected to focus on terrorism, trade, investment and collaboration on technology. Mr Singh will also address a joint session of US Congress on Tuesday. However, there are no signs that Washington is prepared to support a campaign to include India in a reformed United Nations Security Council. During the talks India is hoping to strike a deal on ways to share nuclear technology, which correspondents say Washington has been...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh starts a landmark trip to the United States on Monday (July 18) aiming to cement a new relationship with the sole superpower and erase decades of Cold War-era suspicions. On at least one occasion, the sourness between the two descended into name-calling. Now, several agreements are on the agenda for the three-day trip, from cooperation in nuclear science to fighting AIDS, as well as the launch of an Indo-US forum of chief executives to accelerate business ties. The US may also lift restrictions that remain on high-technology transfers that were imposed after India's nuclear tests...