Wednesday, September 14 2005 10:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush met here for half-an-hour with both leaders saying they were fully committed to the civilian nuclear energy cooperation between the two countries.

The two leaders also discussed the Iran nuclear issue last evening (Sept 13, 2005), Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and Media Advisor to the PM Sanjay Baru told reporters here.

Bush said the Indo-US nuclear agreement was being debated in the Congress and there had been some voices of criticism.

But he stated unambiguously that he remained fully committed to the implementation of the agreement, Saran and Baru said.

The United States (US) President said he was hopeful the Congress would appreciate the agreement.

Singh told Bush that he was happy the Indian Parliament fully supported the joint statement between the two countries issued during his visit to the US less than two months ago though he was surprised at the criticism by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Parliament discussed the joint statement and he had the support of it, he said.

The meeting confirmed that both countries were unambiguously committed to the agreement and there was no question of bringing in any additional conditionalities or additional factors, Saran said.

Saran said the two leaders had a brief discussion on some regional issues, and in that respect President Bush mentioned Iran.

Bush told Singh that current developments in Iran were causing some concern.

The Prime Minister reiterated India's consistent stand on the issue that it was resolutely opposed to any proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Saran said.

On the specific issue of Iran, the Prime Minister said a solution had to be found within the ambit of commitments and obligations Iran had accepted.

On the coming meeting of the International Atomic Energy Commission, of which India is a Board member along with the US, Singh said it was important that diplomacy should be given an opportunity to try and reach a consensus on the issue.

"India," he said, "Would certainly act constructively in this regard."

Both the leaders were accompanied at the talks by their National Security Advisors Stephan Hadley and M K Narayanan.

Saran noted that both France and the United States had stated they would like to engage in full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India. In that respect, they also agreed to work together with their partners in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to make this possible, he said.

The Prime Minister and President Bush also discussed some of the issues before the current session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Prime Minister again extended his invitation to Bush to visit India, and the US President said he was looking forward very much to the trip early next year.