Businesses push Congress for US-India deal

The Politico
Sep 10, 2008

U.S. businesses and the Bush administration are pushing Congress for speedy approval of an agreement between the United States and India on civilian nuclear cooperation. Last weekend, the international Nuclear Suppliers Group waived nuclear nonproliferation rules for India, removing one of the final impediments to a deal that President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been working on since 2005. Under the terms of the deal, the two countries would fully cooperate on research and development and commercial trade in supplies for the generation of nuclear power. The United States lobbied international governments hard to sway the suppliers group, and major U.S. corporations backed the deal. Ron Somers, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, said there has never been a time for the two countries when the stars have aligned so favorably for this kind of agreement.