US Senate votes 85-12 in favour of India's Nuclear Bill

In a major victory for the pro-India lobby, the United States Senate today voted massively in favour of the Indo-US nuclear deal, and adopted the enabling legislation, S 3709, authored by Senators Richard Lugar and Joe Biden to facilitate the US-India civilian nuclear agreement was adopted with 85-12 votes, a comfortable two-thirds margin as predicted by rediff.com earlier.

The Bill now goes to conference with the House version and the differences will have to be reconciled for a final version which once approved can then go to the President's desk for signature.

This is expected to happen after Congress returns from its Thanksgiving [ Images ] Holiday recess on December 4, and before the lame-duck session ends two weeks later.
 
The lawmakers pushed through the amendments in double-quick time, crushing the killer amendments and advancing the final passage of S 3709 by almost two hours before schedule, in a major victory for the supporters of the historic US-India nuclear agreement.

"This agreement is the most important strategic diplomatic initiative undertaken by President Bush. By concluding this pact and the far-reaching set of cooperative agreements that accompany it, the President has embraced a long-term outlook that seeks to enhance the core strength of our foreign policy in a way that will give us new diplomatic options and improve global stability," US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Dick Lugar said.

The vote is also a victory for US industry and the Indian American community, working under the banner of the Coalition for Partnership with India.

Reflecting the sentiment, Ron Somers, President of the US-India Business Council, which comprises the top 220 US companies doing business in India, praised the vote, stating: "As a result of today's vote, the objectives of attaining international energy security, nuclear safety, and a cleaner global environment have today made a Himalayan leap forward."

Somers said: "The Act makes the world safer by bringing India into the international nuclear non-proliferation mainstream.  India's nuclear energy market – estimated to require $100 billion in foreign direct investment – will open for US companies, which till now has been a closed sector, creating a potential 270,000 American jobs in high technology engineering and manufacturing over the next decade."