Bush-Manmohan meeting could be a damp squib

Here is a verbatim transcript of Suryagangadhar and Smriti Advani's comments on CNBC-TV18. Also see the accompanying video.

The George Bush-Manmohan Singh meeting at the White House on Thursday could be a damp squib. There's little sign the nuclear deal will make it through Congress by that date.

The nuclear deal should be tabled in the US Senate around the time Manmohan Singh lands in New York on Tuesday. But there's no clarity from the House. Howard Berman of the leaked-letter fame has not indicated when he'll hold hearings on the deal. He's insisting that the leaked letter be tagged on to the nuclear deal - a deal breaker as it would be unacceptable to India. The silver lining here is that under the House rules, the Speaker can waive a hearing. Pro-deal Congressional staffers are assessing the chances of pushing the deal through in what is known as a "Continuing Resolution."

This would bring together the nuclear deal and other pending legislation in an omnibus package. The package could include Bush's USD 700 billion Economic Stabilisation Bill.

Congress would want to debate the Stabilisation Bill which would take time therefore requiring Congress to sit beyond September 26 - the last day of this session; therefore, speculation that the session could continue until October 2. The alternative is a lame-duck session in December. Understandably, Indian diplomats and their US counterparts are playing down Thursday's Bush-Manmohan meeting at the White House.

Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary, "We expect the two leaders to review the progress in the implementation of the wide range of initiatives that we have been taking in the last three years which have transformed the relationship between India and the US while still hoping the deal will keep its date with Congress."