Friday, September 22 2006 14:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran's whirlwind tour of Washington on Thursday may have a positive impact on the nuclear deal. Sources close to the talks between Saran and US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said that the Senate may take up the India legislation before the end of September" after putting it on hold for nearly three weeks.

No formal announcement on the vote was forthcoming from Frist's office at the time of going to print, but his press secretary Carolyn Weyforth confirmed the September deadline tsources "We are continuing to work on a unanimous consent agreement, which requires us to sort through potential amendments. We are indeed making progress and continue to have the goal of this month in mind."

Apart from the meeting with Frist, the positive turnaround in the Senate also follows a series of meetings between Saran and senior Bush administration officials, including Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.



Until last week, there were fears that the Senate may not take up the nuclear vote in this session of Congress and that it may be pushed to January 2007.

The Senate had held up the nuclear vote since the session began on September 5, preferring to debate defence and homeland security issues ahead of the November 12 mid-term congressional elections.



Sources said that the hold in the Senate was due to the bill's technicalities, including several amendments which may be considered as dealbreakers. There is no real opposition to the bill in general.



The other arm of the US Congress the House of Representativeshad passed the bill on July 25 with an overwhelming 359-68 vote. A similar vote is expected in the 100-member Senate, especially after its influential 18-member Foreign Relations Committee passed it with a 16-2 in June.

Meanwhile, Saran met up with senior Bush administration officials in Washington on Thursday both in the State Department as well as the White House. Sources said that the meetings were "fruitful", but did not give any further information.