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Bush Accepts Invitation to Visit India

T V Parasuram in Washington

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday had an unscheduled meeting with US President George W Bush at the White House in the first high-level contact between the two countries aimed at imparting a new dynamism to bilateral relations.

During the 15-minute meeting, Singh invited Bush to visit India and the US President accepted the invitation, White House sources said.

The meeting with Bush was followed by Singh's scheduled talks with US National Security Adviser Condolezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Emerging from the luncheon meeting with Singh, Powell told reporters that the meeting covered a wide range of issues, including nuclear non-proliferation, economic and trade cooperation and regional issues.

Powell said he assured Singh that the Bush administration would engage India at every level.

"We had a very fine meeting and it was indicative of the importance the United States attaches to its relations with India," he said.

Singh, who also holds charge of the Ministry of Defence, will also hold talks with his US counterpart Donald Rumsfeld.

The Bush-Singh meeting, according to sources, set the tone and parameters of the Indian minister's interactions with Rice and Powell in what is widely seen to be a "getting-to-know you" exercise since the change of guard in Washington in January this year.

PTI

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