"This is a defining moment in our relationship with the great nation of India," said Representative Tom Lantos, the panel's top Democrat and a primary sponsor of the bill.

"After decades of disengagement punctuated with hostility, we now have the opportunity to achieve what will be a historic geo-strategic realignment of the worlds largest democracy, India, with the worlds oldest democracy, the United States," Lantos told lawmakers in arguing for the legislation.

Democratic and Republican leaders in both Houses of Congress have expressed strong support for the bill, which is due for a vote in the full House next month.

"In terms of the impact of this legislation on the new geostrategic alignment between India and the United States for the balance of the 21st century, the importance of this legislation cannot be overstated," Lantos said of the deal forged last year between US President George W. Bush ahd Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to take up the legislation next week.

Despite the easy approval, the bill has not been without controversy.

Some lawmakers have expressed doubts about extending civil nuclear technology to India, which is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Republican representative Jim Leach, lamented what he said was "a sad day in the world of arms control and the rule of law."

"Anyone who wants to present this as a happy day is making a serious mistake," he said, adding that officially sanctioning India's nuclear program "is a foolish direction to go in."

Under the deal, the United States will aid the development of civil nuclear power in India in return for New Delhi placing its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.

The US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 currently prevents the United States from trading nuclear technology with nations that have not signed up to the NPT. It has to be amended for the deal to be effective.

India tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998 and is currently banned by the United States and other major powers from buying fuel for atomic reactors and other related equipment as a result.

Still, some legislators opposed to the deal say it would not only make it harder to enforce rules against nuclear renegades Iran and North Korea, but also set a dangerous precedent for other countries with nuclear ambitions.

"We intend to make the case that the purported benefits of this deal are an illusion, and the risks to the international nuclear nonproliferation regime are quite real," said Democratic Representative Ed Markey, one of the chief opponents to the agreement.

Last week, a group of nonproliferation experts from across the political spectrum wrote to Congress arguing that the nuclear deal would put the United States in violation of the NPT by assisting a non-nuclear weapon state in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

But Vice President Dick Cheney last week warned that Congress would risk squandering a critical opportunity if it held up approval of the landmark civilian nuclear deal with India.

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