news details |
|
|
| Bush's call to Manmohan may have to wait | | | Abuja | Oct 15
With the future of the India-US nuclear deal looking increasingly uncertain, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George Bush were to have a telephonic conversation Monday night but the call could not get through due to technical problems.
"Bush was having technical problems calling from his Air Force One aircraft. The call may have to wait for a while. It may not happen tonight," an official source said. Bush was planning to speak to Manmohan Singh about the status of the next steps India is required to take to operationalise the landmark nuclear deal, which is being fiercely opposed by the Leftist allies of the Indian government. "The prime minister is scheduled to speak to Bush. We can't comment on the subject of their discussions," Nalin Surie, secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, earlier told journalists accompanying the prime minister to Nigeria. Bush is most likely going to speak on the Doha round of multilateral trade talks which have entered a critical stage and seek India's support for the early and successful conclusion of the trade negotiations, the official source, requesting anonymity, told IANS. Indian officials may be tight-lipped about whether the two leaders will discuss the nuclear deal, but with the Indian government indicating that it was not in a hurry to implement this landmark deal it will surely figure in the talks between Manmohan Singh and Bush. "There is no hurry to push the deal through. We will go by our timeline," the source said. The prime minister and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi had Friday ruled out early elections and hinted that they would not risk the survival of the government for the deal. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
