Ahead of the crucial IAEA meeting, the US on Friday said it was confident of making "a very good case" before the UN atomic watchdog and NSG for the nuclear deal with India because of New Delhi's impressive non-proliferation record and would "expeditiously" push the agreement in the Congress.

"The civil nuclear deal is important for the United States, important for India, but also important in helping to advance the non-proliferation framework, the regime in which countries are operating," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Perth.

"I think that's why the deal has received the support of Mohamed ElBaradei (chief) of the IAEA because India has a very good record on proliferation," Rice said at a joint press meet with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith who gave the clearest indication so far that his country is ready to back the deal at the NSG despite its refusal to sell Uranium to India, asserting that they were two different issues.

In her first public comments after Manmohan Singh government won the trust vote, Rice said "We welcome the parliamentary vote."

Rice said that the US will continue to consult with countries of the IAEA Board of Governors and with the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG).

Asked whether the deal will go through before the end of the Bush Administration's term in January, Rice said, "It's certainly our hope that we can get through all of the processes and get this done in the Congress. And were going to work very expeditiously toward that goal."

The US, which has been holding talks with IAEA members on an India-specific safeguards agreements and the 45-member NSG for waiver in nuclear commerce for New Delhi, appeared to have won the backing of Australia with Smith saying his country's policy on export of uranium will not prevent it from supporting the deal at the NSG.

"We have always made it clear that we regard the so-called 123 Agreement, the US-India civil nuclear agreement, as separate from that and we don't regard our policy position on export of uranium as preventing us from joining a consensus in the Nuclear Suppliers Group from supporting the arrangement," the Australian minister said after his talks with Rice.