Bush pushes India N-deal at Senate

Washington: US President George W Bush has appealed to Republican leaders to ensure the Senate votes on a nuclear cooperation agreement with India before it adjourns this month, senior US officials said.

The Senate is rushing to finish its legislative business by September 29 but has yet to set a date for voting on the India the agreement.

The accord would give India access to US nuclear fuel and reactors banned for 30 years because New Delhi refused to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and developed nuclear weapons.

“There can be no doubt that this is a foreign policy priority” of Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said.

He admitted there was still no firm date for Senate action, but expressed confidence that when the vote occurs, there will be strong support for the deal, as there was when the House of Representatives approved it in July.

Another senior administration official, who asked not to be named, said government officials have been urging senators to act and Bush has made direct appeals.

The agreement ‘has been a very high priority for the President and it still is’, the official said.

The main complication is unrelated legislation attached to the Senate India bill, which would push Washington to implement a long-delayed commitment to expanded inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog of American civilian nuclear facilities.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, the panel’s senior Democrat, linked the two bills to improve chances the inspection protocol would be approved.

The administration official who spoke anonymously said, however, that the differences “don't appear to be insurmountable” and a compromise is likely.

Even if the Senate votes soon, its bill will have to be reconciled with the House version and be sent back to both chambers for a final vote.

Some US experts have questioned whether India may be losing interest in the deal, citing harsh attacks on some provisions by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

But Boucher rejected that conclusion, given India's growing need for nuclear energy to support its burgeoning economy. “I don't think there is any question about how committed India is to going through with this agreement,” he said.