Bush praises Singh for "strong leadership"

New Delhi, Sept 6 (PTI) U.S. President George W. Bush
praised the "strong leadership" of Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on Saturday for the success at the N.S.G. which granted
a waiver for India to conduct nuclear commerce.

Prime Minister Office (P.M.O.) sources said Bush spoke
to Singh over telephone and praised him for his "strong
leadership" and the way he handled the issue with a lot of
dignity.

The telephone call came shortly after the 45-member
nuclear cartel cleared the India-specific exemption for
nuclear commerce at its meeting in Vienna on a day of
unscheduled extended discussions.

The Prime Minister thanked the President for his role
in taking forward the civil nuclear initiative and the
decision by the N.S.G. to adjust its guidelines to enable full
civil nuclear coperation between India and the international
community.

The two leaders expressed their belief that mutually
beneficial relations between India and the United States were
in the interest of their peoples and were on a path of steady
consolidation and multifaceted expansion, to which both
leaders reiterated their commitment.