NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush "reviewed developments" pertaining to negotiations on the civilian nuclear deal during a telephone conversation on Monday.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said the leaders expressed "happiness" at the strengthening of the bilateral relationship.

Mr. Bush, who called Dr. Singh, invited him to visit the U.S. again. "The Prime Minister accepted the invitation, and said mutually convenient dates will be worked out."

G-8 outreach summit

According to the release, they discussed the agenda of the G-8 outreach summit, which would be attended by both.

"The Prime Minister conveyed India's commitment to work with other countries to deal with the problems of climate change and global warming."

Dr. Singh emphasised to Mr. Bush that environmental problems could not be solved by perpetuating poverty in developing countries.

"The two leaders discussed the Clean Development Mechanism, and agreed that the emphasis has to be on greater energy efficiency and the development of new technologies."

Both stressed the importance of successfully concluding the Doha round of trade negotiations.

"The Prime Minister said India has a strong vested interest in the successful functioning of a multilateral trading system, and that India would like the Doha round to adhere to the original understanding that it will be a development round," the release said.

He added that India would like to work with "all" like-minded countries to make a success of the negotiations.

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