US President George W. Bush was to sign legislation on Wednesday to enact a landmark US-India nuclear deal, in a lavish ceremony to highlight how the pact helps usher in a new era in relations.
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will make a surprise visit Friday to Washington so that he and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can formally sign the accord itself, a senior US official said.
Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the deal in July 2005, touching off a difficult battle with wary lawmakers on either side and critics who warn it undermines global efforts to curb the spread of nuclear know-how.
The agreement offers India access to sophisticated US technology and cheap atomic energy in return for allowing UN inspections of some of its civilian nuclear facilities -- but not military nuclear sites.
Washington imposed a ban on US-Indian civilian nuclear trade after India's first nuclear test in 1974, but US officials have said a new approach is needed to help the world's largest democracy meet its booming energy needs at a time of skyrocketing oil prices and global warming fears.
Saturday, Rice called the accord "a recognition of India's emergence on the global stage" while Mukherjee cited improved relations since the Cold War era, when New Delhi steered an independent course from Washington.
The ceremony on Wednesday will draw Vice President Dick Cheney, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, and India's ambassador to Washington, Ronen Sen, to the White House's ornate East Room.
US lawmakers, and roughly 200 guests including Indian-American community leaders, will also attend the signing ceremony, according to Bush spokesman Carlton Carroll.
Neither Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama nor Republican rival John McCain were expected to break from campaigning to attend the signing.
"The president looks forward to signing this bill into law and continuing to strengthen the US-India Strategic Partnership," Carroll said in a statement.
"This legislation 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," he said.
Rice and others had to lobby hard to win approval for the deal from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls global atomic trade.
She also pushed hard for the agreement to be approved by both Houses of Congress.
Lawmakers had sought safeguards on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons technology before passing it overwhelmingly last week and handing the increasingly unpopular Bush administration a foreign policy success.
But critics say it still undermines global efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, because India has refused to sign the international non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Singh also had a rough ride over the deal at home: The main opposition Hindu nationalists and the Communists have both slammed it as curbing India's military options and bringing the country's foreign policy too much under US influence.
New Delhi was reluctant to sign the deal before Bush inked the pact but pledged during Rice's visit to India late last week to do so soon after.
Copyright 2008  AFP South Asian Edition
