Bush calls up PM, wants to act fast on N-deal

US President George W Bush telephoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday during when the two leaders expressed a desire to move forward on the nuclear deal "as expeditiously as possible".

"Both leaders expressed their desire to see the US-India civil nuclear issue move forward as expeditiously as possible," US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement, two days after Manmohan Singh's government won a trust vote in Parliament getting the mandate to push the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Johndroe said Bush also told Singh "he looks forward to continuing to work with his government to strengthen the United States India strategic relationship." Bush's telephone call came two days after the White House warmly praised Singh for "solidering on" with the Indo-US nuclear deal despite some political opposition in India.

Bush and Singh also touched upon the stalled World Trade Organisations talks and discussed the need for leading trading countries to contribute to a breakthrough in the Doha round.