Nuke deal is signed, sealed, and delivered-USA-World-The Times of India

Nuke deal is signed, sealed, and delivered-USA-World-The Times of India:

"Having assured itself that US President George Bush asserted his executive stamp over legislative opinion in his statement that accompanied the signing of the nuclear bill into law, New Delhi sent its entire negotiating team led by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on a 10,000-mile, 12-hour visit to Washington for the 123 Agreement signing ceremony -- a modest affair in the State Department’s glittering Benjamin Franklin room. The team arrived in the afternoon, signed the agreement in the evening, and left for Delhi in the night.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose visit to New Delhi last week for the same purpose was rendered fruitless because of India’s anxiety over Bush’s signing statement, politely and pointedly thanked Mukherjee ''who flew all the way here from New Delhi to do this signing,'' before seeing them off without even a meal (the team dined at the their hotel). But for Mukherjee, a diplomatic maestro with nearly three-decades in the business, the objective of asserting India’s stand one last time in Washington was achieved.

''This is an agreement about civil nuclear cooperation and reflects a careful balance of rights and obligations. The agreement has been passed by the U.S. Congress without any amendment. This provision is now legally binding on bot"