United States President George W Bush on Thursday assured India that he was working hard to pass the Indo-US nuclear deal as quickly as possible.
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In his remarks after his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Oval Office of the White House, President Bush said: "You (Dr Singh) and I have worked hard to change the relationship between our countries. India is a great country with an incredibly bright future, and it is in US interest to have a good, strong strategic relationship with India. And we've worked hard to achieve that. One such sign of that relationship is the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement."
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Commending the role of Dr Singh and his government vis-a-vis the nuclear deal, the US President said, "It has taken a lot of work on both our part, a lot of courage on your part, and of course, we want the agreement to satisfy you and get it out of our Congress. And so, we are working hard to get it passed as quickly as possible."
Besides the nuclear deal, the two leaders discussed issues like trade, economy and climate change.
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"We talked about trade. We talked about the environment and how technologies will make it such that we can grow our economies and be good stewards of the environment," Bush said.
During the course of the interaction, Bush went down memory lane and touched upon his visit to India.
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"I will never forget my visit to your country. I remember telling my friends when I got back what an exciting place India is. There's vibrancy and energy, and there is an entrepreneurial spirit that's very strong. And I congratulate you and your government for enhancing that entrepreneurial spirit," he told Dr Singh.
Bush also thanked Dr Singh for his brief on a range of issues, including the situation in Pakistan, which he said will help US formulate its policies.