Washington, Dec 11
Two of the most influential Indian American lawmakers in the United States Congress -- Rep. Ami Bera and Rep. Pramila Jayapal -- delivered some of the sharpest and most substantive interventions during the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia hearing on the US–India strategic partnership, pressing for a steadier, more values-driven and innovation-centred vision for the relationship.
Bera, a Democrat from California and one of the longest-serving Indian American members of Congress, underscored the depth of bipartisan support behind the relationship.
"We recently introduced a resolution, a sense of Congress that was bipartisan, 24 members, talking about three decades of strategy going back to President Clinton to President Bush to President Obama to President Trump's first term to President Biden," he told the panel.
The message, he said, is clear: the United States and India "both want… an atmosphere of security, peace, prosperity."
Bera said his recent visit to India underscored a maturing strategic alignment. He described conversations with Indian officials, business leaders and military officers, saying his assessment was that "India understands their long-term interests."
While New Delhi must "coexist with China", he said, India increasingly sees "a lot of their long-term interests lie with the West… the United States (and) Europe." He added that India is "welcoming… multinational companies investing," reinforcing its role as a trusted partner in secure supply chains.
On defence cooperation, Bera cited growing maritime collaboration in the Indian Ocean and urged deeper joint training. He said the Western Naval Command visit highlighted that "the maritime partnership between the United States and India is extremely strong right now," and that both countries share a desire to "do more joint training, more exercises" to protect freedom of navigation in a vast and contested region.
Bera also addressed one of the hearing's most politically sensitive topics: visa restrictions and barriers to scientific mobility. He criticised the administration's $100,000 H-1B fee, saying it harms American companies and innovation. "We need this talent," he said, urging Congress to craft a new visa category that allows "Indian scientists to travel back and forth to the United States as well as US scientists and engineers to move back and forth to India." Such exchanges, he argued, are essential for cooperation on AI, biotechnology, health security and advanced manufacturing.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, also a Democrat and the first Indian American woman to serve in Congress, brought a deeply personal and pointed perspective. "I'm very proud of my roots in India, my birth country," she said, noting that her mother still lives there. As someone who has lived the immigrant experience -- "the only member of Congress to have been on both a student visa and an H-1B visa" -- she warned that restrictive immigration policies are damaging families, businesses and the bilateral relationship.
Jayapal said she has heard from Indian American entrepreneurs that tariff escalations are jeopardising livelihoods. A fifth-generation company in her district, she noted, told her that the most recent tariff hikes were "the greatest threat to their business in over 120 years." She called the administration's approach -- including the 50 per cent cumulative tariff burden on many Indian goods -- economically shortsighted and strategically harmful.
Jayapal also raised concerns about rising "anti-Indian hate" in the United States and emphasised that Indian Americans are "extremely important to our economy, an integral part of our society… running major Fortune 500 companies as well as startups and leading cutting-edge research to save lives."
On geopolitics, Jayapal pressed witnesses on whether punitive measures could push India closer to alternative blocs. Sameer Lalwani acknowledged that such tariff disparities "can push India closer" to BRICS and the SCO, an outcome she said would undermine US interests.
Together, Bera and Jayapal framed a dual imperative: strengthening defence and technological cooperation while also protecting democratic values, scientific mobility, economic openness and people-to-people trust.
Their message was clear -- a stable and future-oriented US–India partnership must be built not only on shared strategic aims, but also on the lived experiences and aspirations of millions of Indian Americans who form the "living bridge" between the two nations.
