Nuke deal bill to come up before House of Reps today

Though a Congressional nod eluded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he met President George W Bush, the Bill on the Indo-US nuclear deal is expected to come up for debate and voting in the House of Representatives on Friday.      

Singh had flown in from New York yesterday for the meeting with Bush at the Oval Office in the White House with expectations in the Indian side that the Congress would have completed the business of legislating on the deal the two leaders entered into in July, 2005.      

But they were unable to ink the accord in the absence of the Congressional approval.

"We are working hard to get it (the deal) passed as quickly as possible," Bush had told Singh.      

Both leaders voiced satisfaction that having brought the deal to a point where it is about to be adopted by the Congress, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters in New York after the meeting at the White House.      

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to Bush for having decisively intervened at various crucial levels to move the deal forward.      

Menon said he was not worried if the passage of the deal, which enjoys bipartisan support, is delayed in the Congress.

Such a delay would only mean that the lawmakers are occupied with other important matters, he said in an obvious reference to the financial bailout package engaging their attention.      

After a lot of drama and suspense, the bill on the nuclear deal was introduced in the House of Representatives by Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman, a strong opponent of some of the provisions of the 123 Agreement, after dropping of killer amendments including one with a reference to Iran.