Expressing satisfaction that the 123 agreement had been passed in the Congress and that "one more hurdle had been crossed," Dr Singh said he would wait for the final outcome and the end of the Congressional process.
The two leaders discussed the status of the deal and a range of issues covering Indo-US strategic partnership at the Oval Office in the White House. The meeting slated for 5.10 pm local time (2.40 am IST) started 20 minutes late as Bush was engaged in talks with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on the financial crisis in the US.
The NPT expert also said the US was speaking on both sides of its mouth on nuclear non-proliferation.
The bill, however, has to be passed by the Senate, wherein the Republicans enjoy a majority, before it can be signed into law by the US President Donald Trump.
Modi, who is leaving for Iran on Sunday, will also pay a two-day visit to Qatar from June 4.
Trump's move came on Thursday a day after the House Speaker urged him to reschedule his annual State of the Union address slated for January 29, citing security concerns triggered by the shutdown that has entered its 27th day.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who along with members of the bipartisan Congressional delegation met the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in India recently, introduced the House Resolution. In a statement on Thursday night, Pelosi said, 'Leaders around the world have called for the Chinese government to take steps to end its crackdown on peaceful Tibetans and enter into a dialogue with his Holiness the Dalai Lama.'
The immigration reform proposals significantly increase the quota for skilled workers from existing nearly 12 per cent to 57 per cent.
Nearly 100 Indian workers, who claim they were lured to move to the US by false promises of permanent jobs, will march up to the White House on Monday morning and return their H2B visas in a symbolic rejection of the guest worker programme used to traffic them to Washington. The workers, who complain they underwent 'slave-like treatment' at a Mississippi shipyard, will also demand a Congressional investigation of their former employer Signal International.
The resolution was introduced on Thursday by Congressional panel on the Middle East and South Asia Chairman Gary Ackerman, a senior Democrat. Ackerman said the Bush Administration had, for too long, relied on one man to achieve the US anti-terrorism objectives in Pakistan. The President (Bush) has ignored democratic development there and turned a blind eye as General Musharraf has manipulated the political process to ensure his continued tenure in office.
H1-B holders in the US can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship: Trump.
'Howdy Modi is an unforgettable celebration of the crowning of Modi as a world statesman,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Senator Joseph R Biden, Jr, the chairman of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who will be the key player in moving the US-India civilian nuclear agreement forward in Congress if India succeeds in getting in back on the Congressional court expeditiously, says it may be possible to get the deal consummated this year, but that it's going to be in terms of a best-case scenario a photo-finish.
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