US WATCHES POLITICS IN INDIA CLOSELY

Thousands of miles away from the political crisis in India, US supporters of the nuclear deal are watching Tuesday's vote of confidence closely, with their fingers crossed.

They are not willing to bet on the outcome but want to ensure that if the Singh Government wins, no more time is wasted in pushing the deal through the US Congress.

"Our goal is to talk to every single congressman and senator who matters to make sure the deal goes through. Assuming that all will go well in India, this group is gathering in Washington and will spring into action but if it fails then there will be nothing for us to do any more," said Sudhakar Shenoy, founding co-chair, Indian American Republican Council

The languishing civil nuclear accord has been one of President Bush's top foreign policy initiatives and advocates of the deal are keen to have it go through under the present administration, partly because it is the only hope Bush has of leaving a positive legacy on foreign policy.

"There is much hope that this treaty, amongst other steps taken, are signs of a closer healthier Indo-US relationship in the future. I think there is a real fear now that if this is some how turned down in India or the US it will be a setback for many years. It will not be easily put back together," said John Engler, three-time Republican Governor of Michigan.

Although some in India believe that all will not be lost if the government falls on Tuesday. Insiders in the US political system from both parties seem to agree that it is increasingly looking like a now-or-never situation for the deal.


"If the matter slips over in to 2009 and a new Congress comes into place the politics become uncertain. We are then in the hands of a new administration and with America's distracting agenda around the world I don't like to have to think about pushing a complicated nuclear understanding through," Frank Wisner, former ambassador to India.

Both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have indicated support for the deal. But it is not clear that either would consider it a priority as president.

Given the BJP's strong emphasis on building ties with the US and Manmohan Singh's strong support for the nuclear agreement, supporters of the deal in the US assumed that politics would work itself out.

They are now monitoring developments in India to find out whether it is time for the final sprint through the last leg of this race or to call it a day.