TOYAKO: Unfazed by the political turmoil in India, a confident Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed "progress" on the Indo-US nuclear agreement with President George W Bush who said the deal is important for both the countries and heaped praise on the Indian leader "for his leadership at home".

The two leaders spoke in unison on strengthening the bilateral "strategic relationship" as Singh took a two-hour drive from Sapporo to meet Bush in hot springs resort of Hotel Windsor on Mt Poromoi on the sidelines of the G-8 summit, hours before the Left parties were to formally withdraw support to the UPA government on the nuclear deal.

"Our relationship with the United States has never been in such good shape as it is today.... And it is the intention of my government... Whether it is a question of climate change... Global economy, India and US must stand tall, stand shoulder to shoulder, and that's what is going to happen," Singh said after the 50-minute meeting that stretched beyond the scheduled time.

Both Singh and Bush expressed mutual admiration for each other and spoke of the need for closer relationship between the two countries.

"We talked about the India-US nuclear deal, and how important that is for our respective countries," Bush said as the two leaders appeared before the press in a relaxed mood and displayed a lot of personal warmth.

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