A senior Indian official welcomed the 37-5 vote Tuesday by the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives in favor of the agreement that will allow India to acquire civilian nuclear technology.

With this vote, "a major hurdle" had been crossed in the implementation of the deal -- clinched during the visit of US President George W. Bush to India in March -- the official told Indian reporters.

But, he cautioned, "We are not quite there yet" -- referring to another vote due later Thursday by the US Senate Foreign Relations committee and to clearance still needed at a later date by the US Congress and the Senate.

The margin by which the bill will be approved by the Congressional and Senate committees will help New Delhi gauge the kind of support the bill will get in the full Congress and Senate, another official said.

The bill seeks to amend sections of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 that currently prevents the United States from trading nuclear technology with nations, such as India, which are not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Under the deal first agreed by Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July last year, the United States will aid the development of civil nuclear power programs in India in return for New Delhi placing its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

India tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998 and was as a result banned by the US and other mostly industrialized nations from buying fuel for atomic reactors and other related equipment.

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.

They say the deal could free up India's "limited domestic nuclear fuel-making capacity to produce highly enriched uranium and plutonium for weapons."