As many as 27 US lawmakers will be visiting India this month in what Indian Ambassador Navtej Sarna regards as “a very important milestone” that is demonstrative of the high degree of American interest in India and the strong bipartisan support for the India-US relationship.
Ambassador of India Navtej Sarna, who hosted a Congressional reception on Tuesday, Feb 14, to celebrate India’s engagement with the 115th US Congress, expressed the hope that the growing engagement would lead to a “more robust economic and commercial cooperation as India retains its spot as the fastest growing major economy”.
The US lawmakers will be travelling as members of two different delegations. One, sponsored by the Aspen Institute, will bring 19 lawmakers of both Republican and Democratic parties from February 20 to 25, with stops in New Delhi and Hyderabad, during which wide-ranging discussions will be held with government officials, politicians, think tanks and non-governmental organisations.
The second one will be a bipartisan Congressional delegation, led by Republican lawmaker Bob Goodlatte, who heads the House Judiciary Committee. This team, which also includes George Holding, the Republican co-chair of the India Caucus, will be visiting New Delhi and Bangalore from February 20 to 23.
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer made a strong pitch for enhanced cooperation on security issues between the two big democracies, while Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats emphasized the importance of US-India cooperation in addressing the threat arising from extremist radical terrorism. He also spoke of the potential of US companies contributing in the economic transformation of India.
Congressman Pete Olson spoke glowingly of the positive contributions of the Indian-American community in the way of life of Texans. He emphasized the significance of the port of Houston for energy exports.
Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, Democratic Chair of the House India Caucus said that the increase in number of elected Indian-Americans currently in Congress is a testimony to the remarkable strides that the Indian-American community has made and the growing closeness between the two countries that is based on shared values. He noted that the India Caucus is the largest one on the Hill and his firm belief that the US-India relationship will be a defining one for the 21st century.