India's efforts to drum up Congressional support for the historic nuclear deal with the US appeared to have hit an initial glitch as some lawmakers belonging to the India Caucus group have joined those opposed to the pact.
Eighteen law makers, predominantly Democrat, have tabled a motion against the nuclear deal and to the embarassment of New Delhi, at least 10 of them are members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
The caucus was set up in the 1990s primarily to educate and motivate members of Congress on issues pertaining to India so that there could be a positive fallout on policies.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran who met several key lawmakers to garner their support and allay their apprehensions about India's nuclear status has said that it would not be advisable to seek changes in the deal reached after intense negotiations.
The House resolution against the nuclear deal has been tabled by Republican Fred Upton in association with Democrat Edward Markey.
Even before the deal made its way into the House and the Senate in the way of legislation, Markey made it known that he will be opposing it and for reasons of non-proliferation.
The Democrat who is a strident critic of the pact has been quite vocal of the agreement, including making his critical comments known in the media.
The troublesome part of the goings on in Capitol Hill is to do with what is taking place withing the India Caucus and this has left some to wonder whether it is time to bring about tougher admission standards or simply wind up an entity that has become too large to manage.
India Caucus is among the biggest of its kind on Capitol Hill and boasts of over 180 members.
Also, it has been pointed out that members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans belong to other outfits as well, including the Pakistan Caucus.
The goings on in the India Caucus is only one aspect of the apprehensions of those following the civilian nuclear debate in the US and in the Congress.
There are leading Democrats in the House like the Co Chair of the India Caucus Gary Ackerman who have said plainly on more than one occasion that they support the civilian nuclear deal in spite of the clumsy fashion in which President George W Bush has handled it vis-a-vis the Congress.
"Ackerman supports the agreement, but has criticised President Bush for doing a terrible job in selling it to members of Congress and explaining it to the American people," his press secretary said in a statement after the top Democrats had met Saran.
"Ackerman noted that members of Congress should consider the context of the US-India relationship when considering the agreement, but emphasised that many lawmakers bring their own context to the discussion of the issue.
"Ackerman also told him that and that much work still needs to be done for the agreement to be approved by the House and the Senate," it said.
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