US President George W Bush today called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and assured him that the Indo-US nuclear deal was on track. He reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the July 18 joint statement between the two leaders at a time when the PM is under attack from the Left on India’s vote in favour of the EU-3 resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency. The CPM has also warned the Government to ‘‘undo the damage’’ at the next vote in November. Bush’s signal is significant because the Nuclear Suppliers Group is expected to meet in October. For India to be able to participate in the nuclear business, this group will have to remove the restrictions imposed against India. Sources said the Bush-Singh conversation—within two weeks of their meeting in New York—was largely to assure the PM of US commitment to the nuclear deal when he is under pressure here. The PM’s media advisor said the two leaders ‘‘reviewed the implementation of the July 18 joint statement.’’ The Indo-US joint working group on this is also to meet in October. This is headed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on the Indian side and his counterpart will be US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns. The US, it may be recalled, had welcomed the Indian decision to vote in favour of the IAEA resolution on Iran. While much has been linked with the Indo-US deal, official sources said, there were no reciprocal promises made by outside the July 18 joint statement.
