The United States House of Representatives on Friday postponed the formal vote on the approval legislation for the India-US civilian nuclear agreement, following a 40-minute debate.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a known opponent of the deal, supported the Senate version of the Bill saying the deal is a positive step as it will bring India into the non-proliferation regime.

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Fellow Democrat Edward Markey, who lead the charge on behalf of those opposed to the Bill, insisted on a recorded
vote at the end of the debate, following which the voting was postponed. It is now expected to be taken up on Saturday.

"I'm a strong advocate of closer India-US ties, including peaceful nuclear cooperation. I voted for the Hyde act which
established a framework for such cooperation. The bill before us today will approve the US-India agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation," Berman said.

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"Integrating India into a global nonproliferation regime is a positive step," he said, adding that the Bush administration has assured him they will push for an Nuclear Suppliers' Group decision prohibiting the export of enrichment and reprocessing equipment and technologies to states that are not party to Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Fellow Democrat Ellen Tauscher, however, disagreed maintaining that the Bill flies in the face of decades of American leadership to contain the spread of the weapons of mass destruction.

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"The India deal would give a country with a dismal record of nonproliferation all the benefits of nuclear trade with
none of the responsibilities. India has been denied access to the market for three decades and for good reason. India is not a signatory of the nonproliferation treaty and has not agreed to disarmament or signed the treaty," Congresswoman Tauscher said.

The debate on the House floor brought out law makers along expected lines in supporting and opposing the revised
Bill introduced by Chairman Berman, who had reservations over the deal and is understood to have brought the second version after senior Bush administration officials talked to him on the need for early nod to the civil nuclear initiative.

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However, the Congressman said he still has concerns about ambiguities in the agreement and that several documents should be inserted to clarify these.

"These documents constitute key and dispositive parts of the authoritative representations described in section 102 of
this bill, which gives the right to disapprove a presidential decision to resume civil nuclear cooperation with any country,
not just India, that tests a nuclear weapon.

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"It will also ensure that India takes the necessary remaining steps to bring its International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement fully into force and include an additional protocol...I will be voting for H R 7081," the senior Democrat said at the end of his opening statement.

Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ros Lehtinen also voiced support for the legislation.

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"The India-US nuclear cooperation agreement is not one we would offer to just any nation. It is a venture we would enter into only with our most trusted, democratic allies. I believe that stronger economic, scientific, diplomatic and military cooperation between the US and India is in the national interest of both countries," the Florida [Images] Congresswoman said.

"... this nuclear cooperation agreement is essential in continuing to ensure India's active involvement in dissuading,
isolating, and if necessary sanctioning and containing Iran for its efforts to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear
weapon capabilities," Ros-Lehtinen said.