Nicholas Burns, US under secretary of state for Political Affairs and the chief US negotiator of the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, has predicted that the complete deal will be negotiated by the end of this year or early 2008 and signed into law by the president, that would then envisage the transfer of civilian nuclear reactors and other technology to India to alleviate that country's energy crunch.

Burns, speaking at a gala dinner hosted by the US-India Friendship Council at the Four Seasons Hotel to honour him and other protagonists behind the success of the enabling legislation to facilitate the deal that was signed into law in December by President Bush, said, "At the end of this process, perhaps at the end of this year or early 2008, there will be another vote in Congress and the president of the United States will sign the final bill."

"I am determined that we are going to get there as quickly as possible -- I know we will," he said and added, "We will continue to rely on this bipartisan support that's being built up as we go along."

Burns in his remarks, spoke of the invaluable role played by the Indian-American community in convincing members of Congress to support the deal and said the enaction of the enabling legislation "really was the coming out party of the Indian-American community in the United States."

He showered praise on the community "for being the living embodiment -- the living bridge -- between India and the United States," and hoped that "you'll will always be that -- loyal to the United States of America of course," but also always looking for ways to bind the US with "your country of origin, India."

Earlier, Burns, who said he is a career diplomat and non-partisan, being neither Democrat nor Republican, acknowledged, "We have to give credit to president Clinton, because in my view, president Clinton was the first American president who had the vision to say, "'We can have a strategic global partnership with India.'"

"He said that very early in his term of office," Burns noted, and pointing to former assistant secretary of state for South Asian Affairs in the Clinton administration Karl Frederick (Rick) Inderfurth, who was one of the guests, said, "Rick Inderfurth was the person who led that effort for the United States of America."

"Now, of course, I want to give credit to President Bush, because he took the idea that president Clinton had and he tripled it and then quadrupled it. And, it was quite an ambitious thing to say that not only could we have a civil nuclear agreement, we can have a global partnership in the 21st century, that would become in our view, one of the two or three most important relationships that our country has anywhere in the world."

"So, both administrations -- Clinton and Bush -- and both presidents, deserve a lot of credit for having brought us to this day. And in that respect, there were two governments involved, and we dealt with a man -- a very courageous man, a man who has led India to a place few people thought it would be today of global leadership -- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and his executive agent in the United States of America, Ambassador Ronen Sen," Burns said.

Emphasising the important of the nuclear deal, the senior diplomat argued that "in many ways, when you try to build a relationship between countries, you have to look for an issue or a set of issues that will symbolise the aspirations of that relationship. And, I do think, the civil nuclear accord has become a symbolic center of his relationship."

"For so many people, who, maybe didn't know India very well in our country, didn't know much about civil nuclear cooperation, the two have combined to symbolise the fact that our country is choosing India to be a global ally," Burns said. "And, we do that for one compelling reason; because the world has changed and the strategic priorities in a country like ours have to change and there is a real necessity for our country to have India as a partner -- as the great global democratic partner."

"This agreement that the Congress made possible is going to put us on the road towards that achievement," Burns said.

Sen too said that what was most important was that "this agreement has enjoyed bipartisan support -- and this is very critical because if any agreement has to be durable, it will need long-term support. This is a very critical element."

"President Bush has taken this relationship to unprecedented heights and the rapid transformation of this relationship, includes what is evolving as a very strong strategic partnership and it could not have been envisaged and it is he who has made it possible with his leadership and vision," Sen added.

Sen also said "we are very grateful" to the "very dynamic Indian-American community, which I am very proud of," for the support of the deal.

Retired Lt Gen Dan Christman, senior vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce for International Affairs, who also chairs the Coalition for Partnership with India that worked in concert with the Indian-American community in pushing for the nuclear legislation to be adopted by Congress, said, "The US Chamber of Commerce is the largest business association in the United States with over 3 million members, and no area of the globe -- in East Asia, South-East Asia, Central Europe or Eastern Europe -- is more exciting to our members than is India."

"There is not a single event we sponsor that pertains to India that does not result in attendance by literally dozens and dozens of key US private sector representatives," Christman added.

Chrisman said, with regard to the consummation of the deal, "As a military officer, we have just one final task -- there is always a hill over the next hill -- and the next hill is the 123 Agreement, which we hope to bring to conclusion shortly."

He said that once India and the United States complete their negotiations on this bilateral 123 Agreement, "This team -- this private sector, associations, think tanks, government sector and the Indian-American community, will pull together once again to ensure its passage in the Congress that will ally forever the world's two great democracies."

Senator Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, another honoree, who couldn't make it despite confirming along with others honorees like Senator Joe Biden, Delaware Democrat and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, because of the inclement weather, and Congressman Tom Lantos, California Democrat, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, because he got held up directing the Iraq resolution debate, however, sent a message congratulating the Indian-American community for its activism on behalf of the legislation.

"The US-India nuclear agreement is the most important strategic diplomatic initiative undertaken by President Bush," Lugar said and noted that "by concluding this pact and the far-reaching set of cooperative agreements that accompany it, the president has embraced a long-term outlook that seeks to enhance a core strategic foreign policy in a way that will give us new diplomatic options and improve global synergy."

He said that the US and India "share democratic values and the potential of our economic engagement is limitless. The progress made by India in the last decade, is one of the world's greatest success stories."

"With a well educated middle class that is larger than the entire US population, India can be an anchor of stability in Asia and an engine of global and economic growth," Lugar added.

Lugar said that "energy cooperation between the United States and India is particularly important," and said this is why final passage of the nuclear deal is imperative, and noted, "there is still much work to do and passage of this historic legislation was the first step."

"Next, the 123 Agreement currently being negotiated by the United States and India must be submitted and passed by Congress, while India has to conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," he said.

Lugar said he is committed to working with the Indian-American community "as we continue to build a viable strategic partnership between the United States and India."

Swadesh Chatterjee, a North Carolina-based entrepreneur and organiser of the event, and the coordinator of the US-India Friendship Council, in his welcoming remarks, said the US-India Friendship Council, "is just a virtual organisation. What I mean is, we don't have a president or by laws. The generous and very passionate Indian-Americans got together for the purpose -- and the only purpose -- to help ratify this civilian nuclear deal."

"At that time, as you recall," he said, "very few pundits thought that this could ever become a law."

Chatterjee spoke of the massive "grass-roots campaign around the United States. We jammed the Internet with e-mails to Congressmen and Senators, we jammed the fax machines of the Congressmen and Senators and let them know why this deal is important, and I salute all the people in this room for their activism."

"With this activism, we showed that the Indian-American community has arrived politically. It's no coincidence that everyone from President Bush to Dr Singh has recognised the essential role that the Indian-American community has played in the passage of this historic agreement," he said.

Chatterjee, however, acknowledged that "while we celebrate our victory, we also recognise that there is a lot of work still to be done. Our council and the Indian-American community can continue to help to change US-India relations and we must continue to make the case in the United States about why India shares our values and is a natural ally."

"We must continue to meet our legislators, be active in the press and encourage Indian-Americans to participate in the political process. And, we must educate the Indian leaders that America expects reciprocity -- that the time for non-alignment is in the past," Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee asserted that "India is now, and must act like a staunch US ally."