Indo US nuclear deal clears the US Senate to next possible hurdle

17 November 2006

One more hurdle, though not the last, has been cleared from the path of the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation deal, after the US Senate voted overwhelmingly in its favour by a margin of 85-12.

The vote by the Senate, endorsing the White House plan to enable US nuclear fuel supplies to India, is an important victory for President Bush on one of his top foreign policy initiatives.

Now that the legislation has cleard the Senate, it will be taken up for discussion by the leadership of the two chambers in order to reconcile the final wording of the bill before it is legislated into law, as the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed different versions of the bill.

Once the leaders of the House and the Senate agree on an identical bill, the two chambers will have to approve it once again before sending it to the US President to be signed into a law.

If the process fails to be finalised before the end of December, the proposed bill will be back at square one, as fresh bills will have to be tabled as a new Congress takes charge in January.