Washington (Platts)--2Oct2008

The US Senate voted 86-13 late Wednesday to approve a bill allowing US
companies to export nuclear material, equipment and technology to India,
lifting restrictions that have been in place for more than 30 years.

The vote is the final step in a process that began in July 2005 with a
joint statement by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In
that statement, the two leaders said they would work to lift US and
international restrictions on nuclear trade with India in return for certain
nonproliferation steps by New Delhi.

In its vote the Senate approved a nuclear cooperation pact signed by
India and the US in 2007. The House of Representatives approved it Saturday by
a vote of 298-117. Another key step in the process was a September 6 decision
by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group to allow India to receive nuclear
exports from the group's members.

India conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998 and has not signed the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Critics of the deal in Congress and elsewhere have said it rewards India
for staying outside the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and
should include stronger provisions to make sure that India does not conduct
another nuclear test or use the nuclear imports to boost its weapons program.

Supporters say the deal would bring India into the nonproliferation
"mainstream" and that Indian reactor orders from US companies would create
thousands of jobs in the US.

Before approving the bill, the Senate defeated by voice vote an amendment
offered by two Democrats, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Jeff Bingaman of
New Mexico. The amendment would have stated explicitly that US nuclear exports
would stop if India conducted a nuclear test and would have ensured that if
India conducted a nuclear test, no US exports would be involved.

In a "statement of administration policy" issued before the vote, the
White House opposed the amendment, saying the proposal would add "rigid and
burdensome mandates" to legal arrangements that were "already equipped to
address" an Indian nuclear test. Two top members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd and Indiana
Republican Richard Lugar, also argued against the amendment during the Senate
debate earlier in the day.

The White House statement said the bill "represents a major milestone in
the transformation of our Nation's important relationship with India."
--Daniel Horner, daniel_horner@platts.com