India - US nuclear deal still elusive as Bush visits

US President George W. Bush arrived in India today as talks on a landmark US-Indian nuclear pact were down to the wire and tens of thousands of Indians rallied across the country to protest his visit.

Protesters in New Delhi chanted “Death to Bush,” while Muslims in the southern city of Hyderabad held a mock funeral for the American president, admired by many of India’s billion people, despite the demonstrations.

The nuclear pact is touted as the cornerstone of an emerging strategic partnership between the two countries after nearly a half-century of Cold War estrangement. But negotiators have struggled to settle differences over how to separate India’s tightly entwined civilian and military atomic programmes.

“Our people are talking to the Indians, today on the plane,” Bush said during a surprise stop in Afghanistan before his arrival in New Delhi. “We’ll be doing so when we land in New Delhi.”

He called the pact a “difficult issue” for both governments. “Hopefully we can reach an agreement, and if not we will continue to work on it until we do,” he said.

The last-minute efforts to seal the nuclear pact coupled with today’s protests underscored India’s mixed feelings towards Bush and the US – a country many here see as a loyal friend but also a global bully.

Setting aside protocol, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed Bush at the airport as he arrived with his wife Laura Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Indian and US officials had hoped to seal the nuclear deal before Bush arrived, but disagreements over which of India’s nuclear facilities would be put under international safeguards have held up the talks.

“We need a certain degree of clarity on our mutual commitments,” Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told reporters. “We need to make sure there are no ambiguities which may create difficulties for us in the future.”

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice singled out one particularly contentious subject.

“The one thing that is absolutely necessary is that any agreement would assure that once India has decided to put a reactor under safeguard that it remains permanently under safeguard,” she said.

The US-India pact would allow the US to provide nuclear technology and fuel desperately needed by India to feed its booming but energy-starved economy. In return, India has pledged to open its civilian nuclear programmes to international inspection.

The separation of India’s civilian and military programmes is key because the US has only agreed to recognise India as a civilian nuclear power – not a nuclear weapons state.

Washington and New Delhi disagree over how many of India’s 22 nuclear reactors should be placed in the civilian category.

Some Indian scientists have also voiced concerns the deal would undermine the country’s nuclear programme, although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged Monday not to sacrifice India’s national security for the pact.

Rice said India’s neighbour and nuclear rival, Pakistan, would not qualify for the same sort of nuclear treatment as New Delhi.

Bush plans to spend Thursday and Friday in India before leaving Saturday morning for Pakistan.