Among all possible gestural permutations when 47 world leaders gather together in one room, the meeting of hands which everyone seemed to be waiting for was between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Yusuf Raza Gilani.
The two prime ministers met at the Walter E. Washington convention centre in downtown Washington, venue of the Nuclear Security Summit which got underway Monday evening with a reception hosted by President Barack Obama.
Prime Minister Gilani strode up to Dr. Singh and the two men greeted each other warmly.
According to Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Dr. Singh and Mr. Gilani "exchanged pleasantries". As he was himself not present, he was unable to add any further details, despite being peppered with questions by enthusiastic reporters.
This was Dr. Singh and Mr. Gilani's first encounter since their July 2009 interaction on the sidelines of the Nonaligned Summit at Sharm el-Shaikh in Egypt.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao ruled out the possibility of Prime Minister Singh meeting formally with Mr. Gilani in Washington. But Indian officials say the two leaders are likely to meet each other in Thimphu later this month during the SAARC summit and have a more substantial interaction than today's handshake, warm and effusive though it appears to have been.
Showing posts with label Nuclear Security Summit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nuclear Security Summit. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
PM to discuss Headley, Iran with US
ndia's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday began a four-day visit to the US to attend the 42-nation Nuclear Security Summit that will focus on nuclear security and his first bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama since they met in November last year.
Manmohan Singh was warmly welcomed at Andrews Air Force base by White House chief of protocol Capricia Marshall. India's ambassador to the US Meera Shankar, along with senior officials, was also present to welcome the prime minister.
Besides the first-ever Nuclear Security Summit, a pet project of Obama designed to secure all loose nuclear material within four years, Manmohan Singh will have a packed schedule of bilateral meetings with the leaders of the US, France and Canada.
There is no sign, however, of any bilateral meeting between Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who has also been invited for the nuclear summit.
In their first bilateral meeting since Obama hosted maiden state dinner of his administration for Manmohan Singh in November last year, the two leaders on Sunday are set to discuss a cluster of issues that are of pressing concern to them.
With the US hedging on extraditing David Coleman Headley, a key plotter of 26/11 attacks, to India, Manmohan Singh is expected to raise the issue that has revived misgivings about the US' intentions among a section of the political establishment back home.
India has been pitching for full access to Headley, an American-Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who has confessed to his role in plotting the 26/11 carnage, but the US has cited intricate legal procedures, saying it has yet to make a decision on it.
The Headley issue will be discussed in greater detail when National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon meets his American counterpart Gen (Retd) James Jones.
"We will keep pushing...This will be one of the issues...We'll use every occasion to seek access (to Headley)," sources said.
With an agreement sealed on a pact on reprocessing spent fuel, the two leaders will also appraise remaining steps required to implement the landmark India-US nuclear deal.
Manmohan Singh is likely to assure Obama that his government is determined to push the civil nuclear liability law through the Indian parliament that has attracted pointed hostility from India's opposition parties.
Under the 123 bilateral agreement, enacting a civil nuclear liability legislation is a key obligation India is required to fulfil before nuclear companies of the two countries can resume nuclear business.
As their meeting takes place a day ahead of the nuclear summit, the two leaders are set to discuss issues relating to evolving global nuclear architecture and nuclear terrorism that is expected to be the focus of the summit.
In his intervention at the summit, Manmohan Singh is expected to highlight the persistent dangers of illicit nuclear proliferation in India's neighbourhood and the role of Pakistan's A.Q. Khan network, dubbed as illicit nuclear Wal-Mart, in creating a fragile nuclear security situation in the region.
There are, however, potential areas of dissonance when the two leaders pick up threads on issues relating to Afghanistan and Pakistan when they met in November last year.
Obama is likely to enlist India's support for a renewed drive to impose fresh sanctions against Iran. But given the domestic sensitivity of the issue, Manmohan Singh is expected to reiterate India's position on dialogue and diplomacy as the best option to resolve the Iranian nuclear impasse.
Manmohan Singh was warmly welcomed at Andrews Air Force base by White House chief of protocol Capricia Marshall. India's ambassador to the US Meera Shankar, along with senior officials, was also present to welcome the prime minister.
Besides the first-ever Nuclear Security Summit, a pet project of Obama designed to secure all loose nuclear material within four years, Manmohan Singh will have a packed schedule of bilateral meetings with the leaders of the US, France and Canada.
There is no sign, however, of any bilateral meeting between Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who has also been invited for the nuclear summit.
In their first bilateral meeting since Obama hosted maiden state dinner of his administration for Manmohan Singh in November last year, the two leaders on Sunday are set to discuss a cluster of issues that are of pressing concern to them.
With the US hedging on extraditing David Coleman Headley, a key plotter of 26/11 attacks, to India, Manmohan Singh is expected to raise the issue that has revived misgivings about the US' intentions among a section of the political establishment back home.
India has been pitching for full access to Headley, an American-Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who has confessed to his role in plotting the 26/11 carnage, but the US has cited intricate legal procedures, saying it has yet to make a decision on it.
The Headley issue will be discussed in greater detail when National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon meets his American counterpart Gen (Retd) James Jones.
"We will keep pushing...This will be one of the issues...We'll use every occasion to seek access (to Headley)," sources said.
With an agreement sealed on a pact on reprocessing spent fuel, the two leaders will also appraise remaining steps required to implement the landmark India-US nuclear deal.
Manmohan Singh is likely to assure Obama that his government is determined to push the civil nuclear liability law through the Indian parliament that has attracted pointed hostility from India's opposition parties.
Under the 123 bilateral agreement, enacting a civil nuclear liability legislation is a key obligation India is required to fulfil before nuclear companies of the two countries can resume nuclear business.
As their meeting takes place a day ahead of the nuclear summit, the two leaders are set to discuss issues relating to evolving global nuclear architecture and nuclear terrorism that is expected to be the focus of the summit.
In his intervention at the summit, Manmohan Singh is expected to highlight the persistent dangers of illicit nuclear proliferation in India's neighbourhood and the role of Pakistan's A.Q. Khan network, dubbed as illicit nuclear Wal-Mart, in creating a fragile nuclear security situation in the region.
There are, however, potential areas of dissonance when the two leaders pick up threads on issues relating to Afghanistan and Pakistan when they met in November last year.
Obama is likely to enlist India's support for a renewed drive to impose fresh sanctions against Iran. But given the domestic sensitivity of the issue, Manmohan Singh is expected to reiterate India's position on dialogue and diplomacy as the best option to resolve the Iranian nuclear impasse.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Manmohan to attend nuclear security summit
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend a global meeting in Washington convened by U.S. President Barack Obama next week aimed at strengthening national measures on protecting nuclear material and combating their trafficking.
The initiative, while adhering to multilateral instruments and norms, would help in the expanded use of civil nuclear energy, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told newspersons here on Sunday.
The two-day summit beginning on April 12 would not be country-specific but would be aimed at eliminating clandestine proliferation and trafficking in nuclear weapons and material.
Asked why Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea were not invited and if the issue was raised during the two preparatory conferences, Ms. Rao said discussions were held in the “global context.” She described Iran as a responsible country in the region with which India had substantive relations.
India was closely involved in the run-up to the meet for the past six months due to its concern over the possibility of terrorist groups acquiring nuclear devices and material. “Since 2002, we have been piloting a resolution at the U.N. on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. We are also active in working with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] on setting and enforcing standards on protection of nuclear material and facilities as well as on combating illicit trafficking in nuclear material,” she said.
The Prime Minister will reach Washington on April 12 and attend a dinner hosted by Mr. Obama where leaders from 43 countries and organisations will discuss the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Two plenary sessions will be held the next day on national measures and international cooperation to enhance nuclear security. A working lunch will be addressed by IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano. The summit will conclude after issuing an outcome document.
