The Bush administration has said it is "hopeful" that the US Senate will take up the legislation on Indo-US nuclear deal when it returns for the Lame Duck Session and stressed that it would not tell the the legislative body how to go about the bill.

It also said the deal was an important agreement that was not only good for the United States and India, but also for the "broader" international community.

"I will try and avoid trying to tell the Senate how it should proceed. Obviously, it is up to members of the Senate and leadership to determine when to bring matters to the floor," US State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said at the Washington Foreign Press Center.

"But we are certainly hopeful that they will take up this issue when they return to session I believe on November 13," he said.

"It's an important agreement; it's one that we feel provides real benefit for the US, for India and for the broader international community in that it does strengthen non-proliferation regimes that are already in place," he said.

"We will continue to be in discussions with members of the Senate as well as with key staffers, and we do look to them to take up this issue when they come back in November. And we'll certainly be doing everything we can to encourage them to do so," Casey said.