Bush Welcomes Indian Foreign Minister to White House

President Bush held talks with India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh at the White House, Thursday.

Diplomats say the meeting was arranged to convey the importance Washington places on its relationship with New Delhi. The Bush administration announced the sale of F-16 fighter jets to India's rival Pakistan last month.

Mr. Singh told reporters that he and the president discussed Indian-Pakistani relations, but he did not say whether the talks touched on the F-16 sale.

Mr. Singh said India's relationship with Pakistan is "improving rapidly," and that U.S.-Indian relations "have never been better."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was scheduled to attend the Bush-Singh meeting, is scheduled to have a working lunch with Mr. Singh later Thursday.