WASHINGTON - THE US Congress on Thursday began a series of meetings to consider a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with India, with a call from a senior senator to fast track endorsement of the deal this month.

'It would be well advised to approve it this month...rather than waiting till next year', said Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, who chaired a meeting on Thursday of the Senate foreign relations committee on the nuclear initiative.

Although the agreement 'is not perfect', Mr Dodd said the 'imperfections' could be discussed and addressed by lawmakers.

Approval of the pact would be a milestone in US-India relations and 'approve it, my view, we must', he said.

It is the clearest indication yet that efforts were underway in Congress to rush through with a vote on the deal, probably before it adjourns on September 26 ahead of the presidential elections on November 4.

The deal, signed by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005, offers India access to Western technology and cheap atomic energy as long as it allows UN nuclear inspections of some of its nuclear facilities.

If Congress endorses the agreement it would lift a three decades-old ban on nuclear trade with India, a non-member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The White House transmitted the text of the nuclear agreement and other relevant documents to lawmakers last week when they returned to work after an extended August recess.

US law passed in 2006 requires that Congress have at least 30 days of 'continuous session' for consideration of the deal before holding a vote.

Based on the current congressional schedule, the House only has about a week of legislative days left in session before adjourning on September 26.

US Under Secretary of State William Burns asked lawmakers on Thursday to waive the law to consider the deal, saying it was critical to US national security and the future of US-India ties as well as to non proliferation worldwide.

'We fully appreciate the extraordinary nature of the timeframe within which we are asking the Congress to consider this initiative', he said.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar pointed out that under existing law, lawmakers would normally be in a 30-day period of consultation on the agreement, after which they would have 60 days to consider a resolution approving the deal.

'Given the need to waive most of the 30-day consultation period, a simple, privileged resolution is unavailable to us. Amendments will be in order, and there is no guarantee of a vote on final passage,' he said.

Mr Lugar wanted several outstanding issues to be addressed, including confusion over whether the deal would be abolished if India test fired a nuclear device.

India has argued that it has the sovereign right to conduct such a test, while Washington has said the deal would be off if one were carried out.

The Nuclear Suppliers' Group, a regulator of sales of nuclear fuel and technology, approved the deal two weeks ago after some countries, including China and New Zealand, expressed reservation about opening up nuclear commerce with India, which is not a member of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

Mr Bush is to welcome Mr Singh at the White House on September 25 for talks on the nuclear deal. -- AFP