WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Wednesday approved a landmark deal ending the three-decade ban on U.S. nuclear trade with India, handing a victory to President George W. Bush on one of his top foreign policy priorities.
Final approval came as the Senate voted to ratify the deal 86-13, sending the legislation to Bush to sign into law. The Senate's move came just ahead of an expected trip to India this weekend by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The House of Representatives has already approved the pact, which the Bush administration believes will secure a strategic partnership with the world's largest democracy, help India meet its rising energy demand and open up a market worth billions.
But critics say the deal does grave damage to global efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons, by letting India import nuclear fuel and technology even though it has tested nuclear weapons and never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
India has a yawning energy deficit, and the accord opens up this market worth billions to American companies such as General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, a unit of Japan's Toshiba Corp.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kristin Roberts and Eric Walsh)
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