Rice lauds Indian efforts on nuclear deal

SINGAPORE, July 24 (UPI) -- The Indian government's determination to proceed with the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal didn't escape the notice of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

A day after the Indian Prime Manmohan Singh's government won a crucial trust vote in Parliament over the nuclear deal, Rice, attending a meeting on the sideline of an ASEAN forum in Singapore, conveyed the U.S. congratulations to India's Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, the Press Trust of India reported.

The two had a "very good" meeting Wednesday night with Rice saying she appreciated India's "resolve to go ahead with the historic nuclear deal," the report said, quoting highly placed sources.

The sources said Sharma and Rice discussed the deal's "entire gamut of issues."

The report also said during the ASEAN-India ministerial meeting, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations grouping also welcomed the Indo-U.S. agreement, wishing for its early conclusion.

The Singh government had staked its future on the nuclear deal by calling for a trust vote after leftist parties in its coalition withdrew support to protest the agreement.