America
US lawmakers laud progress in US-India partnership
By
By Arun Kumar Washington, Feb 28
Both Republican and
Democratic co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian
Americans have lauded the tremendous progress made in advancing the
US-India partnership with President Barack Obama's recent India visit.
Ami
Bera, the only Indian American in Congress, and George Holding,
Democratic and Republican co-chairs of the caucus, respectively
highlighted the progress in India-US ties at a luncheon discussion on
Capitol Hill Thursday.
Jointly organised by the Embassy of India
and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) the event "India-US
Partnership: Shared Effort-Progress for All", brought together key
stakeholders on Capitol Hill.
The session focused on the sea
change in the US-India relationship, particularly given President
Obama's recent substantive visit to India, and the shared path forward
between the two countries, according to a media release.
In his
opening remarks, Holding highlighted the important role that Indian
companies are playing through their significant investment and creation
of jobs in the US, a lesser-known but equally critical side of the
India-US bilateral partnership.
Reflecting on his recent trip to
India with Obama, Bera reiterated the strategic values and compatibility
that India and the US share.
In the last eight months, the
conversation surrounding the relationship has grown to one of optimism
and endless opportunities, he said.
"To take advantage of the
momentum and move forward especially in our economic partnership, we
need to harness the energy and success of the Indian American community
and recognize the increasing significance of investments by Indian
companies in the US," Bera said.
India's Charge d'affaires
Taranjit Singh Sandhu relayed the primary deliverables of Obama's visit
to India, commenting that the "relations between India and the US have
never been as strong".
"Our long standing strategic relationship
has been upgraded with Delhi Declaration of Friendship committing both
nations to elevate the Strategic Dialogue to a Strategic and Commercial
Dialogue to advance mutual prosperity," he said.
Reiterating
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to be open for business and
deepen ties with the US, Sandhu discussed the positive developments
between India and the US in sectors such as defence, renewable energy
and education.
He also noted the significant contribution of Indian and US companies to advancing this relationship.
Vivek
Sharma, Chairman, CII-India Business Forum and CEO, Piramal Healthcare
Ltd., speaking on behalf of Indian industry, welcomed the change in tone
and tenor of the India-US relationship from just last year.
Stating
that Obama's visit to India "marks an inflection point in the US-India
bilateral strategic relationship", Sharma underscored some of the
challenges being faced by Indian companies in the US.
These
included the lapsing of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP),
market access barriers in the pharmaceutical and financial services
sectors as well as issues related to the mobility of high-skilled
labour.
The session was the first interaction organised under the
aegis of the House India Caucus and helped highlight the vast progress
that has been made as well as the momentous scope for even greater
cooperation between India and the US.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])