No killer amendments in deal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Potentially killer language was kept out of the U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal approved handily by the U.S. Senate Wednesday, an Indian news agency reported.

The deal was approved 86-13 in the upper house after lawmakers rejected amendments by two Democratic senators that threatened to torpedo it, the Press Trust of India reported.

Those amendments would have provided for termination of the agreement if India conducted another nuclear test. Opponents of the bill had been concerned because India, a nuclear weapons state, has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But supporters have claimed India has an impeccable record of non-proliferation since its tests.

The approval of the deal will be seen by many as a major foreign policy victory for President George Bush, who says he will sign it.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Indian counterpart are expected to sign the pact Saturday when Rice is in India, PTI said.

With demand for energy growing exponentially in India, the civilian nuclear deal is expected to open a huge market for numerous suppliers.

CNN said U.S. companies could earn billions building nuclear power plants in India.

Russia and France also are among those eyeing the Indian market. France signed a major deal Tuesday, allowing for the sale of French nuclear reactors to India, the BBC reported.