President George W. Bush on Monday offered India's prime minister a wide-ranging economic and security partnership with the United States, but stopped short of promising the nuclear energy technology India seeks to fuel its fast-growing economy, Reuters reported. After a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that underscored U.S. recognition of India as a rising power, Bush said the two countries were holding a "bilateral energy dialogue to find ways to work together" on nuclear power. The United States is eager to improve ties with the world's largest democracy, attracted by India's booming technology expertise, growing commercial market and strategic importance as a counterweight to China both militarily and economically. But Washington has balked at lifting curbs on providing atomic technology to India because of India's status as a nuclear power that has refused to sign the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which was designed to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. Singh said India had an "ambitious and attainable national road map" in civilian nuclear power, aimed at fueling economic growth for the South Asian country's billion people. He touted Indian economic growth of 7 percent a year in recent years. --more 2348 Local Time 2048 GMT
