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.

Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh first agreed to pursue the nuclear sharing accord in 2005.

The Senate voted 86-13 to approve the legislation on October 1 and the House of Representatives by a 298-117 vote days earlier. The pact had encountered some resistance in Congress because India has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is designed to prevent the spread of dangerous nuclear material.

Opposing lawmakers argued the agreement undermines international efforts to curb proliferation and sends the wrong message to countries like Iran and North Korea.

But the White House maintained the deal for the first time brings India's civilian energy programme under international inspections and further opens up the country's lucrative energy market for US technology.

"For our part, the United States will gain access to a growing market for civilian nuclear technologies and materials that will help American businesses create more jobs for our people here at home," Bush said.

India's nuclear weapons programme will, however, not be subjected to inspections, and opponents of the deal believed it sent the wrong signal to countries like Iran and North Korea, two countries whose nuclear programmes have drawn international scrutiny.

But Bush believes the pact shows countries that the United States will help them meet energy needs as long as they play by international norms.

"This agreement sends a signal to the world: Nations that follow the path to democracy and responsible behavior will find a friend in the United States of America," Bush said.

The White House had warned that failing to approve the deal would leave US companies out of India's energy sector. France signed a similar deal with India this month and Russia was looking for an agreement with New Delhi.

In September, an organization of 45 countries known as the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granted a US-backed waiver for India to purchase nuclear material on the international market. The waiver was required under rules banning sales to non-NPT members.

India also has to work out an arrangement for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear monitoring body, for inspections of its civilian energy facilities.

The deal had been hung up earlier this year in Singh's governing coalition. Smaller parties argued that the agreement compromised India's sovereignty because of US demands for the opening to international inspections of India's civilian nuclear reactors - but not military facilities.

That opposition softened in July after Singh prevailed in a parliamentary vote of confidence. The United States had refused to cooperate with India's nuclear energy programme since the country first detonated an atomic bomb in 1974.