Rice praises India nuclear trade waiver

ALGIERS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hailed a global atomic cartel's decision on Saturday to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India, a crucial step to sealing a U.S.-India civilian nuclear accord.

"The India deal is landmark," Rice told reporters travelling with her on a tour of North African countries.

"It's a really very big step forward for the non-proliferation framework," she said, adding it was also a "huge step" for the U.S.-Indian relationship.

The 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), meeting in Vienna, adopted a one-off waiver proposed by the United States, allowing atomic business with India even though it has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty and has tested nuclear devices.

This followed tough negotiations in which several small NSG states agreed under heavy U.S. pressure to weaker language than they had sought to ensure India does not test atom bombs again.

The U.S. Congress must ratify the deal before adjourning later this month for elections, or it will be left to an uncertain fate under a new U.S. administration.

Rice said she hoped Congress would approve it.

"The Congressional calendar is short. The main thing is that the international work is now done," Rice said. "I certainly hope we can get it through."

Rice said she had made a lot of calls in recent days to try to get the NSG to issue the waiver. A senior U.S. official said Rice had called China early on Saturday to seek to convince its government to sign on to the waiver.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming)