The signing took place at the Benjamin Franklin Room in US State Department in Washington DC at about 1.30 am IST on Saturday.

Mukherjee, in his remarks before the signing ceremony, said: “Both India and the United States have now completed all of our internal procedures to be able to sign this path-breaking agreement.” Noting that the agreement has been passed by US Congress “without any amendments”, he said that the provisions of the agreement are now “legally binding”.

“The agreement has been passed by the US Congress without any amendments. Its provisions are now legally binding on both sides once the agreement enters into force,” he said.

Underling the “courage in democratic statesmanship, both in New Delhi and in Washington”, Rice — in her opening remarks before signing — said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “risked his political future for this agreement”.

“Prime Minister Singh literally risked his political future for this agreement, and then remade his Government to gain the support that he needed. And President Bush first saw the potential and the need for transforming the US-India partnership all the way back in 1999 when he was still the Governor of Texas, and he’s made it one of his highest priorities,” the US Secretary of State said.

Recalling the challenges in the last three years, Rice said, “Many thought this day would never come, but doubts have been silenced now.”

She added, “The agreement we are about to sign is unprecedented and it demonstrates the vast potential partnership between India and the US, a potential that, frankly, has gone unfulfilled for too many decades of mistrust, and now potential that can be fully realised.”

Signalling that there was still work ahead, she said, “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 endeavor.”

She added, “India and US can do all of this and more together. There is so much that our two great nations will achieve in this new century. And with the conclusion of this agreement, our partnership will be limited only by our will and our imagination. India and the United States have taken on an extremely difficult challenge. We’ve met it. We’ve succeeded together. Now, I believe there is nothing that we cannot do together.”