George Bush arrives in India

US President George Bush has a lot on his plate in his first ever visit to India. The President arrived in New Delhi on March 1st, greeted by the Prime Minister, who broke protocol to be there to greet Bush and his wife. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, is with the President on this visit.

Of course, the nuclear deal is the number one issue on everyone's mind, and there are speculations galore of India and the US working out a deal before or when the President lands here. I was listening to the Prime Minister's interview on American host Charlie Rose and he said people were hard at work hammering out the details of such a deal and he said such a deal would go a long way in guiding the Indo-US relationship to a better tomorrow.

The PM downplayed persistent questions from the host regarding the US attempt to stand India as a bulwark against a rising China. He said China and India are not to be looked as rivals but as accessories to each other. We are both on the same trajectory of growth and development, and he actually said he agreed with China's ambition to be a global power, but within the framework of a pluralistic world order. India had similar ambitions, and thus he totally understood where China's coming from.

Lots of diplomatic speak, I know, but the Prime Minister made it clear that India will not be a puppet state of the US (not in those terms of course).

By the way, according to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes Project, a worldwide survey conducted by the Pew Research Foundation, Indians have a very favorable view of the United states, more than Canada or United Kingdom! Oh man, this calls for a whole new post. Of course, prior to his visit to India, there were a lot of feel-good articles in the American Press, calling the next big thing and all that, and also how President Bush was such a big fan of India. May some of it is sincere and true, but more sincerely, I hope our establishment is not as prone to flattery as you and me.

Lets see what the President and the First Lady have on their three day agenda in India:

Bush Visit: Heavy agenda awaits George Bush

Bush, the second US President to visit India in six years, will arrive here on Wednesday evening in the first leg of South Asia trip that will take him to Pakistan also.

In a special gesture, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to receive him at the Palam technical airport.

Bush will be accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the morning of March two, where President A P J Abdul Kalam and the Prime Minister will be present.

Following this, the US President will visit Rajghat to pay his tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.

Singh and Bush will subsequently hold extensive talks at Hyderabad House. Among the issues to be covered is the July 18 nuclear deal, besides cooperation in various other fields like science and technology, space, energy, education and health.

The two leaders will then jointly address the press. A meeting of CEOs' Forum will also take place.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and leader of Opposition L K Advani will call on the visiting dignitary, after which Kalam will host a banquet in his honour on the same day.

On March three, Bush will visit Hyderabad and return in the evening to address a select group of people from the field of politics and business at Purana Quila, in the backdrop of the scenic beauty.

Us First Lady Laura Bush will also have a hectic schedule. She will visit a charity home and a destitute home in Delhi besides a hospital in Noida.

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Bush arrives, PM breaks protocol to receive him

Bush's Air Force One landed in Delhi at 1935 hours (IST) and the US President and the First Lady stepped out of the aircraft.

Before driving to Maurya Sheraton Hotel in his armour-plated limousine specially flown from US, he shook hands with Science Minister Kapil Sibal, the minister in waiting, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and US Ambassador David C Mulford.

Bush has no official engagement on Wednesday night and will be ceremonially welcomed at the Rashtrapati Bhawan when he has a heavy schedule.

Earlier at a surprise stopover at Kabul, Bush said US negotiators were trying to iron out differences with their Indian interlocutors from aboard Air Force One to wrap up an agreement for the implementation of the landmark nuclear deal.

He said: "it is in the interest of the US and in the interest of the countries around the world that India develops a nuclear power industry."

President Bush will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 9 am on Thursday.

During this tour, Bush is expected to cement American alliances with India and also likely to hammer out a landmark agreement to share civilian nuclear technology with New Delhi.

By Wednesday evening, there were enough indications that the nuclear deal is almost in the final stage. Sources have revealed that a declaration is being readied for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush.

Rejecting the notion that if the nuclear energy initiative is not signed during the present visit then the deal could lose its momentum, Rice told reporters on Air Force One that sticking points remained in the way of the nuclear agreement.

The provision Rice cited would prevent India from transferring a reactor from civilian to military status, thus exempting it from international inspections.

The President's National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, also part of the Presidential delegation, brushed aside criticism that the civilian nuclear arrangement with India has been so designed so as to go around the non-proliferation treaty and frameworks as some critics have argued.

Bush is also scheduled to hold a series of meetings with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition LK Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at Maurya Sheraton in the afternoon.

Later in the evening, Bush will call on President APJ Abdul Kalam, to be followed by a state banquet.