You don’t see it covered on the T.V. news very often. In fact, I would argue that it’s under-covered in the newspaper and print media as well.
But the relationship between the United States and India is actually one of the most important ones we have. After all, India is the world’s largest democracy; home to over 1.2 billion people (that’s four times the population of the United States.) And in the not-too-distant future, India will surpass China as the earth’s most populous nation, period.
As you may know, I am the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and India is within the jurisdiction of my committee. Thus, I traveled to India about a month ago, and was invited to attend a lunch meeting at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. yesterday. The occasion was the visit to America by India’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Some of the points made by Prime Minister Modi in his address to the attendees were the following. He wishes to increase trade between India and the United States, arguing that it will increase job creation in both countries. He welcomes American companies to invest in India, reasoning that India’s rapidly growing economy makes it a safe place to invest, and earn a better than average rate of return. (For Modi to be successful in this effort, he needs to remove many of the bureaucratic obstacles which face any foreign company interested in doing business in India.) He also stated that India intends to be a partner in fighting extremist terrorism, (but he has not yet explicitly expressed support for U.S. led airstrikes in Iraq or Syria.)
Prime Minister Modi is not without controversy. There have been hundreds of Muslim-American protesters outside the Modi events during his current visit. Posters held by the protesters accuse him of “crimes against humanity.” This accusation stems from riots which occurred when he was governor of the Indian state of Gujarat over a decade ago. Muslims accuse Modi of siding with Hindu rioters and allegedly turning a blind eye to the killing of approximately 1,000 Muslims.
This photo was taken when I was in India about 12 years ago, in a building where dozens of Muslim civilians were burned to death, after they had fled a mob of Hindu nationalists. (There were atrocities on both sides.)
Because of this cloud over him, Modi was actually banned by the U.S. government from traveling to the United States for approximately the last ten years, until he was elected Prime Minister a few months ago. Now he’s being welcomed with open arms.
I’ll conclude this week’s blog with one of my pet peeves about India. And that’s that despite the fact that the United States gave India approximately $100 million in foreign aid last year, and billions of dollars over the last several decades, India votes against the United States’ position in the U.N. approximately 70% of the time. Drives me crazy. I’ve brought it up with the various Indian ambassadors whom I’ve met with in my office over the years. They always say they’ll look into it. But nothing changes. I’ve been urging our State Department and other Members of Congress to link the two – India’s cooperation with the U.S. at the U.N., and the level of foreign aid. Unfortunately, the State Department doesn’t want to make waves, so we continue to give India considerable aid, and they continue to vote against us. But I’m not going to give up.
That being said, the relationship between two of the world’s great democracies will only grow in importance over time. And Prime Minister Modi’s trip to the United States should be considered one of the more important visits by a foreign dignitary in recent years.
Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts about India. And here are a couple of photos taken at the Modi State Department lunch yesterday. See you next week.
