Sunday, November 01, 2009

DTN News: Former U.S. President George Bush Backs India's Nuclear Role In Last Week Visit To New Delhi

DTN News: Former U.S. President George Bush Backs India's Nuclear Role In Last Week Visit To New Delhi *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - November 2, 2009: Former U.S. President George Bush said Oct. 31 that the Indo-U.S. nuclear civil cooperation agreement is "India's passport to the world." Former U.S. President George W. Bush delivers a speech Oct. 31 during a leadership summit in New Delhi. Speaking in New Delhi as chief guest at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Bush said, "[By signing the deal] the U.S. recognized India's nuclear weapons program. "It is India's passport to the world, a sign that India has taken its rightful place as a great nation on the global stage." Bush's statement comes as the Obama administration wants India to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a senior official of the Indian Foreign Ministry said. The Indo-U.S. civil nuclear cooperation deal was finally concluded between Bush and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh shortly before Bush's term ended. The countries agreed to the framework of the accord in 2005, and it went through a politically arduous route in India before it was passed in 2008. In the process, India's Communist Party pulled support to Singh's government, which barely survived a vote of confidence. To resounding applause, Bush also said he wants a seat for India at the United Nations Security Council. On Afghanistan, Bush warned that Afghanistan should not be allowed to go back in the hands of Taliban and the al-Qaida, otherwise "the world would face serious threats," he said. "If the Taliban, al-Qaida and their extremist allies were allowed to take over Afghanistan again, they would have a safe haven and the Afghan people, particularly the Afghan women, would face a return to a brutal tyranny," Bush said.

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