The opponents of the bill had moved fast to barrage the Congress and the press with arguments characterising the bill as a near fatal blow to nonproliferation without the redeeming prospect of any real strategic gains.

Most members of Congress have limited knowledge of the oft-arcane world of nuclear nonproliferation and rely heavily for information in this area on a few informed colleagues, the Congressional leadership and the press.

The opponents came close to setting the terms of the debate. While raising legitimate concerns that the deal will enable India to divert nuclear fuel to expand its weapons arsenal and that other nuclear wanabees will be emboldened by an exception for India, they failed to convince most members of Congress that these were inevitable outcomes.

One reason for their lack of success was the often-exaggerated nature of their presentation. Yet another reason was the obvious gain for nonproliferation by India’s decision to place most of its nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards provisions. Moreover, the strategic importance of India , with its booming economy was obvious. A further advantage was the plausible connection between a positive vote and increased US trade with India. It became clear that voting this bill down or loading it with deal-busting amendments will set back a relationship with a country that is rapidly becoming one of the key players on the Asian scene.

The Indian American community, working with the administration and powerful groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, demonstrated its influence in the US politics as it lobbied for the passage of this bill. Their success demonstrated that Indians in the US had become a political force to reckon with.

... contd.