Wednesday, September 13 2006 12:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The US will 'not struggle very hard' to strip of provisions objected by New Delhi in the bill on the Indo-US civilian nuclear and the amendments proposed in the Congress will not constitute a 'serious challenge' to the July 2005 agreement, a senior strategic expert has said.

Robert Einhorn, former Assistant Secretary of State for Non Proliferation in the Clinton administration and currently senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also said the bill could be passed before the Congress adjourns if Bush administration and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist want to do it so.

"The Senate is a less predictable place than the House. The Senate has all kinds of rules that protect minority prerogative and so you can have a small number of Senators standing up and raising problems.But if the administration really pushes, it will be done before this Congress adjourns," Einhorn said.

"The House and the Senate attached various amendments. I don't think any of them constitute a serious challenge to the July 2005 agreement, but nonetheless attracted a lot of criticism and opposition in India. There are all kinds of stuff in there but we in Washington know how to read that." "They have no consequences. I think 75 per cent of the changes made by the House and the Senate has no real consequences. It is somewhat irritating of course. But basically Congress did not lay a glove on this deal," he said.

"I do not know how good this is going to come out but my guess is that the Bush administration is not going to struggle very hard to strip out" all of the objections raised by India, Einhorn said after participating in a seminar 'A Nuclear Arms Race in South Asia?," he said.