US business lobbies for nuke deal with India

The lobbying drive is the most expensive ever mounted by business, said Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council of the US Chamber of Commerce. He did not specify the campaign's budget.

He said retired Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Christman, a former superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point now working for the US Chamber of Commerce, will coordinate a broad effort as the Coalition for Partnership with India that groups businesses, think tanks and academics supporting the deal.

This will complement the US-India Business Council, which has engaged the politically well-connected Patton Boggs law firm to lobby lawmakers, Somers told Reuters in an interview.

The high-powered campaign reflects both the importance of the nuclear agreement and the high hurdles it faces in Congress, Somers said.

Some members of Congress and experts worry the deal clinched in July undermines US efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms.

Somers said the agreement could open the door for US companies to billions of dollars in non-nuclear as well as civilian nuclear-related contracts.

"It's going to unleash a bounty of opportunity that is even beyond commercial measure," including strengthening nonproliferation goals, he said.

For 30 years, the United States led the effort to deny India nuclear technology because it tested and developed nuclear weapons in contravention of international norms. Both India and its neighbour and nuclear-armed rival Pakistan have refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.