Manmohan Singh misses out on a memorable birthday gift

Washington, Sept 26 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
who turned 76 on Friday, was deprived of what could have been
his most memorable birthday gift, as he couldn't ink the
historic Indo-U.S. nuclear deal with President George W. Bush.

Singh, who is India's 14th Prime Minister, was born on
September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of
undivided India.

The landmark accord, which the Bush administration worked
overtime to get approved in time for the Prime Minister's
visit, could not still get a legislative nod at the Congress,
which is also bogged down with the financial bailout package.

The 123 agreement, which earlier received an overwhelming
approval from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, however,
looks set to receive a Congressional nod after key lawmaker
Howard Berman shed his tough line on the accord.

Berman, who is Chairman of the House of Foreign Affairs
Committee, introduced the Senate version of the Bill of
Approval in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

It is understood that the House, which was considering
the bill, has put off the voting due to pre-occupation with
the financial bailout package and some other issues.

While the process on sealing the deal is underway, both
Singh and President Bush showered praise on each other.

During their 40-minute meeting at the Oval office in
White House on Friday, Singh praised Bush's "important" and
"historic" role in forging several bilateral initiatives,
including the civil nuclear deal.

"When the history is written, I think it will be recorded
that President George W. Bush played a historic role in
bringing our two democracy closer to each other," said Singh.

Bush, on his part, told the prime minister that it has
taken a "lot of work on both our parts, a lot of courage on
your part" to get the deal close to operationalisation.