Washington (T2N2) Despite hectic lobbying in political circles to either clinch or scrap the Indo-US deal, the outcome of the nuclear accord may well depend on - believe it or not - sarees.India has gifted a pure Banarasi silk saree to each US Congressmen, State Department sources said here.
Currently, a draft legislation on the nuclear accord has been sent to the US Congress by the Bush administration and officials in India are hoping against hope the sarees might just do the trick.
The offer comes at a time when interest in Indian apparel is at an all-time high and the wives of US Congressmen may be tempted to persuade their spouses to see the deal through, the sources said.
Apparently, apprehensions were high in India that Bush would not be able to clinch the deal on his own steam, and the freebie sarees were needed to bring the Congress around.
The Indian saree, espoused by several Hollywood leading ladies, has in the last couple of years caused a sartorial revolution in the fashion streets of Milan and Paris.(T2N2)
