WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The Senate approved a controversial nuclear deal with India on Wednesday , clearing the way for the United States to export nuclear know-how to India after a ban lasting decades . President Bush , who supports the deal , meets with India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week . Sen. Chris Dodd , a Connecticut Democrat , said the deal would not only `` set the stage for a stronger U.S.-India relationship , '' but also would promote stability in India 's troubled neighborhood . `` This agreement is indicative of a new era in Indian foreign policy , an era in which India will see all the world 's powers as potential partners in efforts to address its own needs and the needs of others , '' Dodd said . `` I believe that this new era will bring increased stability and progress in South Asia . '' India and Pakistan have fought several wars since they became independent in 1947 , and both countries have tested nuclear weapons . Wednesday 's vote was 86-13 . Sen. Tom Harkin , an Iowa Democrat , spoke against what he called flawed legislation before the vote . `` If we pass this legislation , we will reward India for flouting the most important arms control agreement in history , the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty , and we will gravely undermine our case against hostile nations that seek to do the same , '' Harkin said . Before he voted against the bill , he said Congress had not debated the legislation properly . `` It was hustled through [ the House of Representatives ] without any hearings and without a vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee , '' he said . `` Here in the Senate , the Foreign Relations Committee held just one hearing with just one witness who spoke in support of the agreement . '' Presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain voted for the bill . President Bush urged the Senate to pass the bill in a statement released before the vote . The bill `` represents a major milestone in the transformation of our nation 's important relationship with India , '' the statement said . One senator had anonymously been using parliamentary rules to prevent the bill from coming to a vote , but the leaders of the Senate announced Tuesday night the vote would go ahead . The House of Representatives passed the bill without debate on Saturday . The next step is for Bush to sign it into law . The Indian nuclear market is a rich prize , and the agreement could open the way for U.S. companies to earn billions of dollars building nuclear power plants in India . The French government clinched its own nuclear trade deal with India on Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy signed an agreement in Paris . That puts French companies in the running for some of the same contracts U.S. companies want . In exchange for access to U.S. nuclear technology , India would allow international inspections of its civilian -- but not military -- nuclear power plants . It would also promise not to resume testing of nuclear weapons . The United States banned nuclear trade with India after India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 and refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty . In an informal agreement between the two nations , the United States said it would halt any nuclear cooperation should India resume testing .
Deal could let American businesses earn billions building plants in India . President Bush backs the bill ; he 's going to sign it into law . U.S. began nuclear trade with India in 1974 . Sen. Harkin , bill opponent : We 're supporting India for its nonproliferation pact .