By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday finally began to debate long-stalled legislation that would open the door to nuclear cooperation between the United States and India for first time in three decades. Critics planned to seek amendments that would mitigate their concerns that the deal would encourage an arms race between India and nuclear rival Pakistan. But key Senate leaders who are prime authors of the legislation expressed confidence that the bill would ultimately pass, putting India a major step closer to being able to purchase U.S. nuclear fuel, reactors and related technology. "This legislation will allow the United States to engage in peaceful nuclear cooperation while safeguarding U.S. national security and non-proliferation efforts as well as congressional prerogatives," Republican Richard Lugar of Indiana, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told the Senate. Lugar, a respected advocate of efforts to stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction, called the nuclear agreement "the most important strategic diplomatic initiative" undertaken by President George W. Bush. Sen. Joseph Biden, who is expected to become committee chairman when Democrats take control of Congress in January and who co-sponsored the bill with Lugar, stressed the need for cooperation with India, one of the "pillars of security in the 21st century." But Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota argued that the agreement would enable India -- which never signed the landmark nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty -- to accelerate production of nuclear weapons, increasing tensions with nuclear rival, Pakistan. More broadly, Dorgan said, the deal repudiated decades of U.S. policy of "telling the world it's our responsibility and our major goal to stop the spread of nuclear weapons." "It's a horrible mistake," he said. The deal, which would bring India in line with some key international norms, was reached in principle by Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005. It would require the rising South Asian power to open civilian nuclear facilities to international inspections, forgo future nuclear tests and cooperate with the United States and other nations on halting the spread of nuclear exports. If the Senate approves the bill, it will have to reconcile differences with the House of Representatives version, then both chambers would have to vote again on a final bill. But that is not the end of the road. The House and Senate would vote again after negotiations on the technical details of the U.S.-India nuclear trade relationship, in what is known as a "123 agreement," named after a section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act. Also, India must complete negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on a system of inspections for its civilian nuclear facilities and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group must change its regulations to allow nuclear transfers to India.
