New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on February 2 wrote to US President George W Bush conveying his condolences over the killing of Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla and six others in the Colombia space shuttle disaster.

"For us in India, the fact that one of them was an India-born woman adds a special poignancy to the tragedy," Vajpayee said.

Vajpayee said the world has seen with admiration the American space programme and it is India's hope that it will reach new heights in the days to come.

"We convey our heart felt sympathies at the tragedy, which has overtaken space shuttle Colombia. We mourn with you in this moment of grief. Our hearts go out to the families of the bright young men and women who worked on that spacecraft," he added.

PTI