United States President George W Bush on Saturday praised the 'strong leadership' of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the success at the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, which granted a waiver for India to conduct nuclear commerce.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said Bush spoke to Singh over the telephone and praised him for his strong leadership and the way he handled the issue with a lot of dignity.
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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.