The US Senate rejected the bill on special status for India as a "global strategic and defence partner" of the United States. The proposed law was supposed to modify United States' export control regulations, to make state-of-art technologies available to India.
"The (Senate) amendment (No 4618) was not adopted to the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA)," a Congressional aide said.
"I regret that the Senate was unable to debate and vote on several matters critical to our national security, many of which enjoyed broad bipartisan support," top Republican senator John McCain said in a statement.
"In particular, I am deeply disappointed the Senate was not able to increase the number of special immigrant visas for Afghans who risked their lives to help America in a time of war, and whose lives are still at risk today," he said.
"Too often throughout this process, a single senator was able to bring the Senate's work on our national defence to a halt. This was a breakdown in the decorum of the Senate, and one that will have serious consequences," McCain said.
-Nandini
