Rice says will push Congress hard on India deal

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday the Bush administration would push the U.S. Congress hard to agree to a civilian nuclear deal with India before President George W. Bush leaves office.

India said this week it would go ahead with its nuclear deal with the United States after the government survived a parliamentary vote of confidence. The pact would give India access to nuclear fuel and technology.

Speaking to reporters en route to Perth, Western Australia, Rice warmly welcomed the Indian parliament's vote and said she would work hard to convince the U.S. Congress to agree to the deal as well.

"It is certainly our hope that we can get through all of the processes and get this done in the Congress and we are going to work very expeditiously towards that goal," said Rice, in her first public comments since the vote.

The agreement has fairly broad bipartisan support in Congress, but its passage could be complicated by the short legislative calendar ahead of the November U.S. election. For the deal to go through, it has to be ratified by Congress.

"I think we can make a very good case that this is not just a landmark deal but a positive one," Rice said.

She was accompanied on the flight from Singapore by Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, who plans to show Rice his hometown Perth during an 18-hour visit.

The two ministers were both at an Association of South East Asian Nations meeting in Singapore.

The nuclear agreement also needs clearance from the governors of the U.N. atomic watchdog group and a 45-nation group that controls sensitive nuclear trade called the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Smith said, like other nations belonging to the NSG, Australia would examine the deal very carefully before making any decisions, adding that his country would go along with the consensus position.

"Our approach is we are looking at it in a positive and constructive way, understanding the significance that it has for India and the United States," he said.

Australia, a major supplier of uranium, has said consistently that it would not break its long-standing policy of refusing to sell uranium to India because it has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"Our consideration of the U.S.-India nuclear civil arrangement certainly won't lead to a change of policy so far as Australia's exports of uranium are concerned. Australia's position has been consistent throughout," he told reporters.

Washington says the deal would forge a strategic partnership with the world's largest democracy, help India meet soaring energy demand and open a nuclear market worth billions of dollars to exporters worldwide.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Alex Richardson)