After more than three years of tortuous and fractious domestic politics of India, the Indo-US nuclear deal today secured the stamp of approval of the US when the Senate overwhelmingly voted a bill rejecting all the killer amendments, paving the way for its implementation.
The landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement, entered into between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W Bush in 2005 on which the UPA risked the coalition government, was approved by the Senate with 86 voting for and 13 against with bi-partisan support after throwing out the amendments moved by two Democratic Senators.
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a strong supporter of India, also voted for the Bill, which still contains a provision that would ensure cessation of US nuclear cooperation with India in case New Delhi conducted an atomic test.
President George W Bush, who personally took steps to push the deal and the legislation, and Biden hailed the passage of the legislation saying it would strengthen global nuclear non-proliferation efforts and help India increase its energy production.
The legislation, which has already been cleared by the House of Representatives in the midst of pre-occupation with the financial bailout package, will now head to the White House for Bush signing it into a law.
With today's Senate vote, the deal is now ready for being inked by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she arrives in New Delhi on her rescheduled trip on Saturday with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Senate approval marks the culmination of a rough journey the deal undertook in the last three years, especially in India with the Left parties withdrawing their support because of their strong opposition to cooperation with the US.