US-India nuclear deal set to become law – 10 Democrats warn Bush not to overturn riders

Washington: US president George W Bush is set to sign the landmark US-India nuclear legislation into law at a high-profile ceremony at the White House on Wednesday. The event continues to court controversy, however, with a last minute letter from Congressional lawmakers, urging president Bush not to overturn riders attached to the agreement by the Congress, now being made public. 

The event carries intense expectations from the Indian side who would be anxious to see how president Bush responds to the controversial riders attached to the agreement in his signing statement.

For the record, the signing event will take place in the ornate East Room of the presidential mansion and will be attended by vice president Dick Cheney, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, energy secretary Samuel Bodman and India's ambassador to Washington, Ronen Sen.

About 200 other guests will also be in attendance, including Indian-American community leaders and US lawmakers.

The historic legislation has travelled a long road from one day in July 2005, when president Bush and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh first articulated it as part of an evolving strategic partnership between the world's two biggest, but mostly estranged, democracies.

It has run into immense domestic and international opposition since, both in India and the United States.