Dr Singh's dinner diplomacy with Sarkozy

Visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met over dinner on Sunday night and are believed to have discussed civil nuclear cooperation on which some agreements are likely to be signed on Monday.

Dr Singh hosted a private dinner for the French leader and his wife Carla Bruni at his official residence in New Delhi, which was attended by United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and some senior Cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon.

During the meeting, the French leader is understood to have raised the issue relating to the civil nuclear liability legislation to which he was told that the concerns, if any, will be addressed.

Apart from civil nuclear cooperation, the two leaders are likely to discuss a host of issues, including terrorism, during their official talks on Monday.

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Sarkozy has come to India hoping to take back a mega nuclear deal and reinvigorate ties in key areas like space technology.

Earlier, Sarkozy flew in from a overnight stay at Agra where he visited the Taj Mahal and the Fatehpur Sikri, which is about 30 km away from the city.

Presently on a four-day trip to the country, Sarkozy arrived at Bangalore yesterday and visited ISRO.

Immediately after his arrival, Sarkozy made remarks backing India's bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council as well as membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Sarkozy's support to India for the NSG entry comes nearly a month after US President Barack Obama supported New Delhi's full membership in multilateral groupings like the NSG, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR), the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement.