Bush Hails India Nuke Deal

India Will Get U.S. Fuel, Tech Help; Won't Sign Nonproliferation Treaty

(CBS/AP)  But the civilian nuclear agreement is the major building block of renewed relations between the United States and India, which is seeking greater recognition on the world stage.

Critics say the United States is using India as a counterweight to China's growing economic and political influence, and argue that the agreement sends the wrong signal to North Korea and Iran, which have rejected calls for international monitoring of their weapons programs.

Mr. Bush disagreed. "What this agreement says is things change, times change — that leadership can make a difference," he said.

"I'm trying to think differently, and not stay stuck in the past."

In Washington, there was some quick criticism of the president's nuclear deal, CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called the agreement a "disaster" and said it undercuts U.S. efforts to convince other countries without nuclear weapons not to build them.

"With one simple move the president has blown a hole in the nuclear rules that the entire world has been playing by," said Markey, co-chairman of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation and the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, defended the agreement.

"India and Pakistan had never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty and therefore they weren't in violation of it by having nuclear programs," Bolton said in New York.

The agreement marks a major shift in policy for the United States, which imposed temporary sanctions on India in 1998 after it conducted nuclear weapons tests. India insists it has been a good steward of nuclear material for decades; that there has never been one incident of proliferation from it.

Singh's leftist allies criticized the pact, saying it paves the way for U.S. meddling in Indian affairs. "Today is one of the most shameful days in the history of independent India," said Shambhu Shrivastava, spokesman for the socialist Samata Party.

The late night negotiations for the nuclear pact, coupled with protests throughout Mr. Bush's stay, reflected India's mixed feelings about the visit by the leader of the United States — a country seen as a loyal friend by some and a global bully by others.

Many business and government leaders are eager to strengthen ties with the United States.

Mr. Bush repeated his position that reforms at the United Nations are needed before the U.S. will consider backing India's desire to become a permanent member of the Security Council.

Mr. Bush's day included a visit to the site where M.K. Gandhi, India's independence leader, was cremated in 1948. It ended at a state dinner with Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam under a crescent moon in a lush courtyard at the presidential palace. Waiters in red tunics and red-and-white turbans scurried about after toasts of mango juice by the two heads of state.