Washington, Sep 11 (IANS) US Republican presidential nominee John McCain has praised the Indian American community for its “excellent work” in the progress of the India-US nuclear deal through “overwhelming bipartisan support” in the US Congress.The Arizona Senator also hailed the community, “an integral part of the modern American tapestry”, for contributing greatly to strengthening bilateral relationship between the US and India.

“The most recent example of your excellent work was the advancement of US-India civil nuclear cooperation through overwhelming bipartisan support in our Congress,” McCain said in a letter on the occasion of establishment of Indo-Americans for McCain Coalition.

The letter has been released by the convener/coordinator of the new organisation, Deven Verma. While the organisation in support of McCain’s bid for presidency has been floated recently, the outfit called South Asians for Obama has been active for almost a year.

In the letter, Senator McCain expressed his support for the nuclear deal, which has entered the final phase with President George W. Bush sending his package to the Congress.

Earlier in the month, McCain welcomed the decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to give the historic waiver to India on nuclear trade and criticised his Democratic opponent Barack Obama for supporting “poison pill” amendments during consideration in the Senate that would have had the effect of killing this important agreement..

In the letter, the Senator said the Indian American community’s “efforts and commitment will help our campaign uphold the principles of smaller government, a strong national defence and lower taxes for working Americans”.

The presidential hopeful also appreciated the new Coalition for showing a strong commitment to building a grassroots network of supporters to ensure his victory in the November election.

“I intend to work closely with you to ensure that the concerns of Indian Americans and the Indo-American community as a whole are reflected in my campaign,” McCain promised.