Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush on Thursday announced an agreement on a landmark nuclear deal, a coup for Bush's first visit to India. Under the accord, elusive until the last minute, the United States would share American nuclear know-how and fuel with India to help power its fast-growing economy, even though India won't sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It would represent a major shift in policy for the United States, which imposed temporary sanctions on India in 1998 after it conducted nuclear tests, according to a report of the Associated Press. "We concluded an historic agreement today on nuclear power," Bush said. "It's not an easy job for the prime minister to achieve this agreement. I understand. It's not easy for the American president to achieve this agreement." Bush, turning immediately toward selling the deal to skeptics in the U.S. Congress, called it "a necessary agreement." "It's one that will help both our peoples," he said. Singh repeatedly thanked Bush for personally shepherding the deal. "But for his leadership, this day probably would not have come so soon," Singh said.
