Washington: Ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush next week, Washington has agreed to lift export controls on equipment for nuclear facilities to India and liberalise high-tech trade, including those related to space science.

US export licensing policies will be eased to foster cooperation in commercial space programmes and certain exports to power plants at safeguarded nuclear facilities, a joint statement titled 'The Next Steps in Strategic Partnership between India and the United States' said yesterday (Sep 17, 2004).

The first phase of this partnership was concluded yesterday following two-days of intensive talks between External Affairs Secretary Shyam Saran and senior US officials in Washington.

The joint statement described the agreement as "major progress."

"The United States and India announced today major progress in the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) initiative. Implementation of the NSSP will lead to significant economic benefit for both countries and improve regional and global security," it said.