Washington: The Indo-US nuclear deal has moved into the last lap clearing a major hurdle when the House of Representatives approved a legislation on it that will now go to the Senate which is likely to vote on it today.

The Senate vote appears to be a formality given the fact that an identical Bill has already been approved by its Foreign Relations Committee earlier this week.

Once the Senate clears the bill, the agreement reached between the two countries three years ago will be ready to be inked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

After a lot of drama and suspense, the House of Representatives passed the Bill on an unusual extra day of sitting on Saturday with bipartisan support but a considerable number of Democrats were still opposed to it.

Despite the bipartisan support the bill received, 107 Democrats voted against the legislation while 120 of their party colleagues voted for it. In the Republican party, only 10 voted against it while 178 voted in its favour.

Reactions in India

The passage of the deal evoked diverse reactions from the political class with Left parties saying there is nothing to celebrate while Congress described it as the PM's "highest feat" of diplomacy.
"There is nothing to celebrate. The apprehensions expressed by Left parties have come true," CPI National Secretary D Raja said.

The BJP suggested a wait-and-watch until the "final face" of the bill is known after it is cleared by the Senate.
On the other hand, an euphoric Congress said in a statement.

"This is the highest feat of diplomacy chiselled and sculptured by our great statesman Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, guided and inspired by our visionary party President Sonia Gandhi." Party spokesperson M Veerappa Moily said the country is also "grateful" to US President George W Bush who made it possible due to his "untiring" efforts.