Click to play videoWashington: Time is short to see the Indo-US nuclear deal through the US Congress but US President George W Bush is hopeful.
Sources in the White House have said that President Bush is hopeful of being able to push the deal through the US Congress before the end of his term in January next year.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said she will start talks on an expeditious passage for the bill with Congressional leaders in the next few days.
All eyes are now on Washington which is the final stop for the smooth passage of the civilian nuclear deal, after the Nuclear Suppliers' Group granted the waiver to India in its Vienna meet on Saturday.
There were fears that the U.S.-Indian civil nuclear cooperation accord, one of President Bush's top foreign policy initiatives, may finally have run out of time this year.
The US Congress is expected to stop work for the year in late September and lawmakers would have to rush to push through the deal.
Some in Congress, however, are vowing a careful review of U.S.-Indian nuclear negotiations. The deal would otherwise pass over to the new Congress and the new US president in January next year.
It is also unclear whether the proposed agreement would remain a priority with the next congress.
The state department may be reaching out to the Democratic chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the House and Senate, Howard Berman and Democrat Senator Joe Biden.
Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has favored the accord, which would reverse three decades of U.S. policy by shipping atomic fuel to India in return for international inspections of India's civilian reactors.
Berman, who supports nuclear cooperation, is cautioning the Bush administration that Congress will take seriously its duty to study the accord.
Congress must wait 30 working days after receiving the deal before it could be ratified.
The US Lawmakers returned on Monday from their August recess and are scheduled to leave in about three weeks to campaign for the presidential and congressional elections that are to be held in November.
India has refused to sign nonproliferation agreements and has faced a nuclear trade ban since its first atomic test in 1974.
But on Saturday, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations that supply nuclear material and technology agreed to lift the ban on civilian nuclear trade with India.
The sanction came after contentious talks and reassurances to member NSG countries which were fearful that it could set a dangerous precedent.
U.S. officials have said that selling peaceful nuclear technology to India would bring the country's atomic program under closer scrutiny.
Critics say it would ruin global efforts to stop the spread of atomic weapons and boost India's nuclear arsenal.
A new Congress could take up the deal in early January, before Bush leaves office at the end of that month. Both presidential contenders, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, have indicated support for the accord, but it is not clear that either would give it the same attention that Bush has.
(With inputs from AP)
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.