Washington - US President George W Bush signed legislation Wednesday allowing the United States to sell civilian nuclear technology and material to India.

The bill reverses more than 30 years of US policy banning the export of nuclear technology to India in exchange for international inspections of India's civilian nuclear energy programme.

The agreement was at the top of Bush's foreign policy agenda as he prepares to leave office in January and it has emerged as the centrepiece of increasingly strong diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries.

"This legislation will enhance our cooperation in using nuclear energy to power our economies," Bush said in a signing ceremony at the White House. "It will help us work together even more closely to reduce the danger of nuclear proliferation across the world."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will sign the nuclear accord between the two countries with Indian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Washington on Friday, the State Department said. (dpa)