N-deal formally listed on Senate panel business agenda

WASHINGTON: Amid intense efforts to push the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee listed the agreement on the formal agenda of its business meeting on Tuesday under a revised schedule.

The US-India agreement is mentioned as the ninth item on the legislative agenda for the panel with the agenda including marking up treaties and several nominations.

There is uncertainty whether the agreement can be inked when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President George W Bush in Washington on September 25.

After the Senate nod, the approval of the House of Representatives needs to be secured before the two countries can sign the agreement.

"An original bill to approve the United States-India Agreement for Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, and for other purposes," the Senate Committee's notification said.