The controversy that has dogged the vaunted U.S.-Indian civil nuclear deal is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon despite the recent rule change by the Nuclear Suppliers' Group. Deep-seated partisan rancor in India over the deal and the still-needed U.S. congressional ratification will ensure that. But more than commercial nuclear power, it is U.S. arms exports and closer strategic ties with India that the deal is likely to promote.

From the time it was unveiled more than three years ago as an agreement-in-principle, the deal has been anchored in broader strategic objectives — from intelligence sharing and building of interoperability between U.S. and Indian forces, to roping in India as a key player both in the "Global Democracy Initiative" and a disaster-response initiative with military orientation. India has agreed to fully support American nonproliferation initiatives and consider participating in U.S.-led "multinational operations."

As a thank you for the role U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice personally played in getting the suppliers' group to exempt India from its rules, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to shortly sign three agreements that U.S. officials say are crucial to forge closer bilateral military ties. One is a logistic support accord, another is to provide for end-use monitoring of transferred weapons systems, and the third is to promote military-communications interoperability.