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Washington, Oct 11 (UNI) India and the United States last night signed the 123 agreement on the peaceful use of the nuclear energy, vowing to use their nascent strategic partnership in shaping a new world order.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who inked the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice here, said it was ''one more visible sign of the transformed relationship and partnership that our two countries are building together.'' Mr Mukherjee said both India and the US had now completed ''all our internal procedures to be able to sign this pathbreaking agreement.'' Ms Rice responded by saying that the agreement was ''unprecedented'' and demonstrated ''the vast potential partnership between India and the US, a potential that has gone unfulfilled for too many decades of mistrust, and now a potential that can be fully realised''.
''Let no one assume, though, that our work is now finished.
Indeed, what is most valuable about this agreement is how it unlocks a new and far broader world of potential for our strategic partnership in the 21st century, not just on nuclear cooperation but on every area of national endeavour,'' the Secretary said.
She visualised that the partnership would tackle ''the great global challenges of our time: energy security and climate change, terrorism and violent extremism, transnational crime and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction''.
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