Congressional panel acts on US-India nuclear deal

WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) A key committee took the first step today toward US congressional approval of a nuclear cooperation deal with India that lawmakers said would promote historic new ties between the two countries.

The House of Representatives International Relations Committee voted 37 to 5 to send legislation endorsing the deal and making changes in U.S. law to the full House, where action is expected next month.

The agreement, granting nuclear-armed India access to U.S.

nuclear fuel and reactors for the first time in 30 years, was agreed in principle by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last July 18. But the deal has come under criticism in both capitals.

Many non-proliferation experts have expressed concern that the deal would allow India to increase nuclear weapons production, but the committee soundly rejected two amendments that sought to force New Delhi to halt fissile material production.

Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat who co-sponsored the bill with panel chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois, said ''the impact of this legislation on the new geo-strategic alignment between India and the United States for the balance of the 21st century ... cannot be overstated.'' Reuters SK VP0110