2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Arrives in New Delhi on First Visit t

By Paula Wolfson
New Delhi
01 March 2006
 

President George W. Bush, left, waves to the media as his wife Laura Bush looks on after their arrival in New Delhi, India  
  
President Bush has arrived in New Delhi for two days of meetings and events designed to showcase the evolving relationship between the United States and India.

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The focus of this visit is to be completion of a historic nuclear cooperation deal.

President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached an agreement in principle last July to provide help for India's civilian¹ nuclear power industry, while at the same time putting the program under international safeguards.

Negotiators say the final deal is almost complete, but acknowledge the most difficult issue remains²: how to provide guarantees that technology provided to India's nuclear power program will not be diverted to develop nuclear arms.

India is trying to come up with a formula to separate its civilian and military nuclear programs, which have long been intertwined. Both sides say it can be done, but President Bush acknowledges it is not easy.

"It is a difficult issue for the Indian government; it is a difficult issue for the American government," he said. "And so we will continue to dialogue and work and hopefully we can reach an agreement. If not, we will continue work until we do."

Mr. Bush says the agreement is important, but stresses there is much more to the Indian-American relationship than this one deal between Washington and New Delhi.

"Our relationship with India is broader than our discussions about energy," he said. "Ours is a strategic relationship. It is a relationship that's got strong ties because of our economies and our military, [and] our desire to help democracies such as Afghanistan."

New Delhi was supposed to be the first stop on the president's South Asia tour. Instead, he made a detour³ to Afghanistan.

Presidents George W. Bush and Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday   
  
"Mr. President, welcome to Afghanistan!" said Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He hosted President Bush for a working lunch in Kabul - their first meeting on Afghan soil. The surprise visit lasted about five hours.

In addition to his talks with Mr. Karzai, President Bush participated in ceremonies marking the official opening of the U.S. embassy, and he spent time with American and coalition⁴ troops at the Bagram military base.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。