Senate OK's nuclear trade agreement with India

WASHINGTON — The Senate late Wednesday approved an agreement that opens up nuclear trade with India for the first time since the country conducted a nuclear test 25 years ago, giving the Bush administration a significant foreign-policy achievement in its final months.

The accord, which the Senate passed 86-13, will allow U.S. businesses to begin selling nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to India in exchange for safeguards and U.N. inspections at India's civilian, but not military, nuclear plants. The pact, which the House approved Saturday, marks a major shift in U.S. policy toward nuclear-armed India after decades of mutual wariness.

It now goes to Bush for his signature.

Bush hailed the Senate's vote, saying the accord "will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner."

Washington Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both Democrats, voted for the measure, as did presidential nominees Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, and vice-presidential nominee Joseph Biden, also a Democrat.

The agreement, which sparked fierce opposition from nuclear-proliferation experts, acknowledges India as a de facto nuclear power, even though it has never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. India until now has been barred from worldwide nuclear trade, leaving its homegrown industry hobbled and short of uranium fuel to run its reactors.

Supporters said the deal will help India become a responsible world power and forge ties between two large democracies that have had an antagonistic relationship.

Opponents said lawmakers, eager to leave Washington to campaign for the November elections, rushed consideration of a complicated deal that they said could spark a nuclear-weapons race in Asia. The extra fuel the measure provides, they said, could boost India's nuclear-bomb stockpile by freeing up its domestic fuel for weapons.

With an agreement in hand, India has said it plans to spend $14 billion on reactors and other nuclear equipment next year, though France and Russia are also expected to be key suppliers.

India conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998, despite international outrage, and continues to produce fissile material.