U.S., India sign new nuclear agreement

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a new nuclear trade deal Friday with the United States which she said will unlock a vast potential partnership.

The agreement will open the door for U.S. companies to provide billions of dollars of equipment and expertise to the Indian nuclear power industry.

"Our partnership will be limited only by our will and determination," Rice said at the State Department where the pact was signed. "Now I believe there is nothing we cannot do.

"Many thought this day would never come. But doubts have been silenced now."

She said India and the United States are bound by shared valued and "increasingly by our many shared interests."

India's Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee joined her at the signing ceremony in the ornate Benjamin Franklin room at the State Department. The two clasped hands as a crowd of diplomats applauded.

It has been a long diplomatic and legislative road to win approval of the deal. Rice traveled to India last week, just after Congress passed legislation for the agreement. President Bush signed it earlier this week.

The measure required international support as well, since India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India has pledged to Washington that it will no longer test nuclear weapons and will allow outside inspectors at some of its nuclear facilities.

"This agreement is one more visible sign of the transformed partnership and relationship our two countries are building together," said Mukherjee.

All About U.S. Department of State • Condoleezza Rice • India