Saturday, January 26, 2008
Sarkozy salutes Indian armed forces as honored guest on Indian Day (2:03 p.m.)
NEW DELHI (AP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy saluted Indian
armed forces Saturday as the guest of honor at this country's
Republic Day celebrations, during a two-day visit aimed at cementing
Indo-French ties.
Sarkozy joined India's first woman president, Pratibha Patil, as
thousands of members of India's security forces - army, navy, air
force, and an array of police and paramilitary units - marched
through the capital city.
Indian officials have said he planned a quick visit to the Taj
Mahal on Saturday afternoon, before returning to France a few hours
later.
On Friday, Sarkozy said the U.N. nuclear watchdog and India
appear to be within weeks of an agreement on oversight of New
Delhi's civilian nuclear program - a deal key to a U.S. atomic deal
with the South Asian country.
"To the best of my knowledge, it's only a matter of weeks and
the authorization (from the IAEA) will be given," he told
reporters.
India's deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency would be
an important step in finalizing India's landmark atomic energy deal
with the United States - as well as allowing it to press forward
with similar agreements with France and other nuclear powers.
The IAEA had no comment on Sarkozy's claim.
France and India have completed negotiations on a civilian
nuclear technology agreement, the two leaders said, but Sarkozy
added that the agreement is dependent on India concluding its own
agreement on nuclear safeguards with the IAEA.
India's booming economy is desperate for energy, and such deals
would allow India to buy nuclear fuel and reactors. They would also
bring India into the nuclear mainstream after decades of outsider
status because of its refusal to sign nonproliferation treaties and
its testing of nuclear weapons.
But the trip was also designed to bring the two countries closer
in everything from education exchanges to business.
"This partnership is long standing and rests on shared values
and similar approaches to regional and global issues," Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters Friday.
Notably absent from Sarkozy's visit, though, was his girlfriend,
model-singer Carla Bruni, who declined to accompany him, reportedly
because they were not yet married. Much of the attention ahead of
his trip was on whether she would accompany him - particularly
during his visit to the Taj Mahal.
Sarkozy, 52, and Bruni, 40, reportedly met in November, soon
after his October divorce from Cecilia, his second wife. Sarkozy's
openness about his private life has surprised many French,
accustomed to presidents who keep their love lives under wraps. (AP) |
