WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Congress Wednesday to approve an unprecedented U.S. plan to share nuclear technology with India, saying the deal will not trigger an arms race in Asia.

Her testimony was received with skepticism. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar agreed that India under the deal would submit to more international safeguards. But the Indiana Republican with a strong interest in arms control, said the pact “would not prevent India from expanding its nuclear arsenal.”

Rice clashed with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., over port calls that Iranian vessels have made on India.

Under questioning, the secretary said Indian authorities had given assurances their country was not training Iranian sailors and soldiers, but she also said “we have made clear we are concerned about their relationship with Iran.”

“The Indians say they have some low-level military contacts with Iran,” Rice said.

Boxer declared: “It is an issue of deep concern to me. Your words are a bit hollow.”

In advance of hearings in both the House and Senate, Rep. Tom Lantos of California., a supporter of the deal, said that Rice’s testimony would put the nuclear cooperation issue “front and center for the first time.”

The House committee’s senior Democrat, Lantos described as “jarring” the disclosure this week that two Iranian ships have visited ports in India.

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, senior Democrat on the committee, “it comes down to a simple bet we are making, that India appreciates as much as we that the two nations have the potential to be anchors for stability.” He also said he would probably vote for it.

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., said “this is a good bet,” when benefits to India and the rest of the world are taken into account. The two countries share democratic values and there is a shared sense of security, he said.

President Bush agreed to last month with India could dramatically increase India’s nuclear arsenal and weaken efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and Rice maintained that “civil nuclear cooperation with India will not lead to an arms race in South Asia.”

India has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is unlikely to ever do so, she said. “We are simply seeking to address an untenable situation. This agreement does bring India into the nonproliferation framework, and does strengthen the regime.”

Rice called it a “path-breaking” deal and said it “obviously deserves the support of the U.S. Senate.”

The pact, which must be approved by Congress, strengthens U.S. ties with the world’s largest democracy but also upends more than three decades of U.S. law and policy.

Her appearance comes at a time of growing domestic disenchantment with U.S. foreign policy. Uncertainty over the military course of a rising China, unceasing turmoil in Iraq and stalemated Mideast and nuclear diplomacy over Iran and North Korea pose difficulties for Rice, even though her own performance continues to receive rave reviews on Capitol Hill.

The election season is dawning for members of Congress and those who aspire to replace them. They all are aware of public discontent with the Bush administration’s global record on several fronts.

The new U.S. strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi reverses restrictions on trade with states, such as India, that did not accept comprehensive international safeguards over all their nuclear facilities. The administration’s response is that the deal will foster nonproliferation by conditioning India’s purchase of foreign-made nuclear reactors on opening its civilian facilities to international inspections.

However, the Congressional Research Service, in a report last week, noted that India would have the sole right to decide which reactors are civilian and which are military, which need not be under international supervision.