US NRIs happy with NSG waiver, hopeful of Congress nod

FOREIGN HAND: The American Indians called the waiver a historic victory for people of India.

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New York: Indian American community leaders expressed satisfaction over the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver to India on Saturday, calling it the crossing of the last hurdle to the India-US nuclear deal.

They now hope the deal will go through in the US Congress as well.

Calling the NSG waiver a historic victory for people of India, chairman of US-India Forum Ashok Mago said, "Once again US-India joint efforts have proven successful.

The diplomatic skills of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have played a vital role in this approval.

"The Indian American community, which has played a vital role in the passage of the Hyde Act, is ready to see this agreement get final approval from the US Congress.

We are hoping that the Indian prime minister's visit to Washington DC in end-September will coincide with that approval," Mago added.

Calling the waiver wonderful news, Thomas Abraham, chairman of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) International, hoped the anti-nuclear proliferation lobby of Congressmen does not scuttle the deal at this stage.

"Good thing is both Republicans and Democrats favour the deal," Abraham told IANS.

Florida-based Piyush Agarwal, who is among over a dozen prominent independent people who have successfully turned around many Congressmen initially opposed to the deal, said the waiver is one of many hiccups and hurdles the nuclear deal has cleared.

"Now our work is cut out to see through the deal's passage in Congress," he said, adding that he was off to Washington DC next week for the purpose.

Rajen Anand, the Virginia-based chairman of the National Federation of Indian American Associations, who has also worked with others for the passage of the deal, is hopeful that the deal will go through Congress.

"Timing is the last hurdle now," he said, since the Congress, which convenes on Monday, has to clear the deal before breaking for the November presidential polls.