Bush admin wants Senate to approve nuke accord

Washington, Sep 29: American administration wants the Senate to approve the US-India civilian-nuclear agreement during this session prompting a warning by Majority leader Bill Frist that the delay would adversely impact bilateral relations between the two countries.

In a brief intervention on the Senate floor last night, he blamed the opposition Democrats for standing in the way of the legislation by proposing some amendments to the original agreement and said New Delhi will not accept them.

Mr Frist said the Senate approval to the deal, which has already been passed by the House of Representatives, would mark the beginning of a new era in relations between India nad the US.

Earlier, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the administration wanted the legislation on the subject to be passed in the ''next couple of days''.

He, however, said, ''I don't know if that's going to happen.'' Mr McCormack said, ''There's a lot of pressing business before the Congress but we are pressing very hard to get this done in this session and as soon as possible.'' India as a multiethnic democracy, has a healthy understanding of the legislative process, he said.

''We are pushing hard -- the Administration is pushing hard to get all the required agreements, you know, up on the Hill... so that they can schedule a vote for it and to do that as soon as possible,'' the spokesman added.

Earlier, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who led India's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and other senior officials have met their US counterparts here during the last few days in connection with the nuclear agreement.

Mr McCormack said Ms Rice had a ''good meeting with Mr Mukherjee.

''The vast majority of their conversation was about the India civil nuclear deal and, you know, all the various components and parts to that. So that was really the focus of their discussion,'' he said.

UNI