Senators urged to pass nuke bill

With the Senate likely to take up the legislation regarding the India-United States nuclear deal this month, business organisations and foreign policy experts in the US have written a letter to Senators urging them to pass the measure so as to achieve a "greater partnership" with India.

The letter has as its signatories five leading business organisations, 28 leading American companies, nine Indian-American organisations and more than 20 leading foreign policy experts and have been sent to each of the Senators.

'For over 50 years, the US and India have sought to deepen their political, economic and strategic relationships.

'The Senate will soon consider, hopefully this month, the United States- India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act.

'This legislation will clear a key hurdle to greater US-Indian relations, and will help create major trade opportunities for US companies. We urge you to support this historic legislation, S.3709, which would put in place the framework necessary for the US and India to broker a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that will finally bring India's civilian nuclear programme under international safeguards,' the signatories have told lawmakers.

The signatories hoped that differences between the House and Senate bills will be resolved in a way that will promote US nonproliferation objectives while reinforcing the US-India strategic partnership.

'Congress has an opportunity to strengthen the growing partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracies. As leaders in the US business, Indian-American, and policy communities, we urge you to support US-Indian civil nuclear cooperation,' they said.

Prominent among the signatories include the US-India Business Council, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Bechtal Power Corporation, Westinghouse, and the National Electrical Association.

The policy experts include the former Ambassadors of the United States to India Frank Wisner, Thomas Pickering and Richard Celeste and former senior administration officials like William Cohen, former Defence Secretary and Karl Inderfurth, former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and leading academics like Harold Gould of the University of Virginia.