    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [September 25, 2008]
    [Pages 1242-1244]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India
    September 25, 2008

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, once again, it's my honor to
    welcome you back to the Oval Office, and it will be my honor to share a
    meal with you tonight. I thank you for coming to Washington from New
    York. It's very kind of you to come. I appreciate your friendship, and I
    appreciate your leadership.

    [[Page 1243]]

        You and I have worked hard to change the relationship between our
    countries. India is a great country with an incredibly bright future.
    And it's in the U.S. interests 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 India-U.S. civilian
    nuclear agreement. This has taken a lot of work on both our parts, a lot
    of courage on your part. And of course, we want the agreement to satisfy
    you and come--get out of our Congress. And so we're working hard to get
    it passed as quickly as possible.
        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.
        I'll never forget my visit to your country, Mr. Prime Minister. I
    remember telling my friends, when I got back, what an exciting place
    India is. There's a vibrancy and energy, and there's a entrepreneurial
    spirit that's very strong. And I congratulate you and your Government
    for enhancing that entrepreneurial spirit.
        I thank you for your advice on a range of matters. I appreciated
    very much your briefing on the neighborhood in which you live. It's very
    informative, and it helps me make decisions and helps me formulate
    policy.
        All in all, ours is a very strong relationship, at a state level and
    at a personal level. And I appreciate you coming.
        Prime Minister Singh. Mr. President, I know how busy you are with
    problems relating to the management of the financial crisis. That
    despite all these enormous pressures on your time, you have found it
    possible to receive me is something I deeply appreciate, deeply value.
    And the last 4\1/2\ years that I have been Prime Minister, I have been
    the recipient of your generosity, your affection, the show of your
    friendship. It means a lot to me and to the people of India.
        In these last 4\1/2\ years, there has been a massive transformation
    of India-United States relations. And, Mr. President, you have played
    the most important role in making all this happen. Your efforts towards
    cooperation with regard to civil nuclear energy, I know these were
    difficult issues, and at each stage, it was your leadership, your
    personal intervention which resolved all the difficulties that were
    affecting the progress of this negotiation.
        I sincerely hope that the settlement which is now before the U.S.
    Congress will be approved in a manner which will be satisfactory from
    the point of view of both our countries. And when history is written, I
    think it will be recorded that President George W. Bush played an
    historic role in bringing our two democracies closer to each other.
        I am mentioning civil nuclear initiative because for 34 years, India
    has suffered from a nuclear apartheid. We have not been able to trade in
    nuclear material, nuclear reactors, nuclear raw materials. And when this
    restrictive regime ends, I think a great deal of credit will go to
    President Bush. And for this I am very grateful to you, Mr. President.
        President Bush. Yes, sir.
        Prime Minister Singh. But there has been enormous transformation in
    our relationship in many other respects. The United States is India's
    largest trading partner. The United States is the largest investor in
    our country. And at President Bush's initiative, we set up a two-country
    CEOs forum which has come forward with many innovative ideas to bring
    the business communities of our two countries closer to each other.
        We have taken new initiative in the field of education. We have
    today a new architecture of bringing the academic communities of our two
    countries--the new scheme of Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship will unite the
    intellectual community of our two countries in a manner which gives me
    immense satisfaction.

    [[Page 1244]]

        In areas of science and technologies, in areas relating to
    environment management, in the areas relating to climate change, in
    areas relating to health, in areas relating to knowledge initiatives in
    agriculture--all of these initiatives have emerged as a result of the
    historic meeting that I had with President Bush on 18 of July of 2005.
    These are the reasons we have now a strategic partnership with the
    United States. And all that has happened has happened because of the
    strong personal commitment of the President.
        India is a functioning democracy. And I know how much President Bush
    appreciates that fact, that a country of a billion people with
    tremendous poverty, with all the diversities of the world, is yet trying
    to find its economic and social salvation in the framework of a
    functioning democracy. President Bush and I have discussed this aspect
    of India's functioning several times, and he has shown enormous respect
    for India, for Indian democracy.
        So, Mr. President, this may be my last visit to you during your
    Presidency, and let me say that--thank you very much.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir.
        Prime Minister Singh. The people of India deeply love you, and all
    that you have done to bring our two countries closer to each other is
    something history will not be able to destroy.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 6 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House.