Bush praises Manmohan Singh for 8216;strong leadership8217;

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 NSG to adjust its guidelines to enable full civil nuclear cooperation 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.