India a 'pillar' in Indo-Pacific,global economy: US Congressman Ami Bera

Washington, Oct 11 (IANS) Congressman Ami Bera, a Democratic House member from California, has emphasized the need for the US Congress to “stand together” in support of the “hugely important” India-US relationship, calling India a "pillar of not just Indo-Pacific strategy, but also of global economics."

In an exclusive interview with IANS on Friday, Bera, who currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, revealed that he and other members will soon introduce legislation to “reaffirm” the bilateral relationship, and the US Congress remains strongly in favour of the ties.

“I do think this is a time for Congress, Democrats and Republicans in Congress, to stand together and say no - here's how we view the India-US relationship. We'll be introducing a legislation and a sense of Congress to reaffirm that members of Congress see the relationship as a hugely important one in the 21st century,” he added.

19 Democratic House members co-signed a letter to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, urging him to “reset and repair” the India-US “critical partnership.”

The lawmakers called on Trump to “review” his tariff policy and continue a “dialogue with the Indian leadership,” stressing that the path forward “demands recalibration, not confrontation.” Notably, not a single Republican member signed onto the letter.

Bera believed that Republicans are “certainty afraid to take on President Trump directly” but proposed a bipartisan path to show support for India-US ties.

“Instead of making this about President Trump, let's make it about the US-India relationship. Let's make it about what we think as members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans. Hopefully, we'll do this in a bipartisan way. I don't want the India-US relationship to be a democratic thing or a Republican thing. It should be an American thing,” he emphasised.

Bera, who recently led a Congressional visit to India, said that there were “some concerns” among Indian government officials, especially regarding Pakistan, but asserted that the future lies with New Delhi and not Islamabad.

“We had a chance to visit Western Naval Command. Things continue to go really well. The business-to-business side of things go very well. And I just reaffirmed that you're not going to see American companies making billion-dollar investments in Pakistan anytime soon. They are making those investments in India. You aren't going to see our military doing joint military operations with Pakistan or naval exercises. We are doing all of that with India,” he noted.

He called India a "pillar of not just Indo-Pacific strategy, but also of global economics."

"India is the fastest-growing economy in the world. We want to continue to do business with India. I hope we get to zero tariffs between the two countries and actually finally get a trade deal between the two countries," he remarked.

The Congressman also commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for adeptly navigating a tense period with the Trump administration while adding that the US president had a “strong relationship” with PM Modi.

“He certainly seemed to have a good, strong relationship with Prime Minister Modi. I think that the government, PM Modi, and others have handled themselves well. I think they have, for the most part, tempered and moderated their comments. I think [EAM] Jaishankar clearly knows both the United States [and] China. He is a seasoned diplomat. I think India has done a good job recognising that the longer-term relationship between the United States and India should be a positive one,” he noted.

However, the Congress member criticised the Trump administration for lacking a “coherent” India strategy and highlighted recent US closeness to Pakistan despite the terror attack in Pahalgam.

“I'm not sure what the India strategy is, because it seems to be all over the place right now. There doesn't seem to be a coherent strategy, because it seems to go back and forth. At the beginning of the Trump administration, you certainly saw Prime Minister Modi and President Trump embrace, and you thought that this would be a relationship that would move forward fairly quickly. In May, you saw President cosying up to Pakistan, especially after the heinous terror attacks that took place in April,” Bera stressed.

He also expressed concerns over India expertise in the Trump White House, given the chaotic rollout of the H-1B proclamation and the resulting confusion.

“In Trump's first term, he had seasoned political folks around him in his cabinet. Certainly, a guy like Peter Navarro, who does seem to have the president's ear, has not been a friend of India. You have Stephen Miller, who also seems to be setting immigration policy, could be the one driving the H-1B strategy, because how they rolled this out, it was clear that they didn't even know the details of it. And for big policy like this, you don't roll it out that way. Nobody consulted Congress on it. Clearly industry had no idea this was coming either. So again, I'm not exactly sure how they're making policy right now,” he said.

On September 19, Trump signed a proclamation to significantly curtail the H-1B visa programme and imposed a hefty $100,000 visa application fee.

Elaborating on the H-1B crackdown, Bera called it a “wrong decision” by President Trump that will “hurt US industry.”

“I don't think this was thought-through policy. I think this was a handful of people inside the White House making a decision, and the President made the wrong decision. I think this is going to hurt US industry. You're already seeing the medical community, and many hospitals are already struggling to find doctors, and many of our medical students are physicians that are here in the United States are here on H-1B as well,” he highlighted.

However, Bera hoped that confirmation of Sergio Gor as the next US ambassador to India would help improve ties, as Gor “does seem to have the president’s ear and the ability to speak directly to the President.”

“He said all the right things at his confirmation hearings. I think since then, he said all the right things about a strong US-India relationship. And hopefully, his proximity to President Trump, the fact that he'll be in Delhi soon. He gets a chance to meet with Indian officials. He gets to see the vibrancy of the Indian economy and the vibrancy of the people, the vibrancy of their democracy, and hopefully he can take that message back to President Trump,” he added.

Gor arrived in India on Friday for a 4-day visit, and according to a US State Department statement, he will “meet with Indian government counterparts to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues.”

Bera expressed confidence that the recent tensions were just a “blip” and a “few missteps” by the current administration would not alter the trajectory of the relationship.

“Just because of a few missteps by President Trump in the last few months, we should not toss out what we've been building for three decades. My hope would be that we can bring President Trump back into understanding the importance of this relationship,” he concluded.

--IANS

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