The US Senate has begun debating the controversial US-India nuclear deal

Sources: www.bbc.com

BBC News

It will debate amendments to existing proposals, which give India access to civilian nuclear technology if its civilian nuclear sites are inspected.

Some senators say that the agreement will be detrimental to global anti-nuclear proliferation efforts.

There is also some concern about the transfer of missile technology to Iran by at least two Indian firms, recently black-listed by the US government.

Important fillip

The deal is a "lasting incentive" for India not to test nuclear weapons and "to co-operate closely with the United States in stopping proliferation", Senator Richard Lugar said as the upper house of the American parliament began debating the proposed legislation.

Correspondents say that once the bill is eventually passed, the initiative would overturn decades of US anti-proliferation policy.

They say that while success for the bill in the Senate would hand President George W Bush an important fillip, several obstacles loom before the two countries can begin trade in civilian nuclear materials.

India would need to get approval for the deal from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an assembly of nations that export nuclear material.

Delhi would also need to negotiate a safeguard agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Overwhelming majority

Once those hurdles have been overcome, technical negotiations would need to be completed between the two countries before Congress holds another vote on the overall deal.

The BBC's Shahzeb Jillani in Washington says that the Bush administration sees the deal as one of its most important foreign policy initiatives.

Overall, the agreement has enjoyed strong bipartisan support among US lawmakers.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives - the lower house of the American parliament - passed its version of the bill with an overwhelming majority.

Our correspondent says that senators hope to take a vote on the deal later on Thursday or by Friday.

The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, strongly defended the deal in the Indian parliament in August.

He said India would not accept any move by Washington that would impede its atomic weapons programme, nor would it allow any international scrutiny of its military facilities.

But Mr Singh also argued that the deal was in India's interests.

He said mass poverty could only be removed by a fast expanding economy, which in turn needed energy.