WASHINGTON, Jan 20: Congressman Ami Bera, the only Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress, has been invited by President Barack Obama to travel with him to India on Air Force One.
“As the son of Indian immigrants, I am extremely honoured to be a part of this historic trip to India with the President,” Bera said in a statement.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the United States last year was a turning point in relations for our countries, and now this trip will be an important opportunity to continue to move the US-India relationship forward,” he said.
“Our countries should especially look for ways we can grow our strategic and economic partnerships. That will help bring stability to the Southeast Asia region and benefit our economy, in particular opening markets to California and Sacramento County products and creating new jobs,” he added.
“As the oldest and largest democracies in the world, our countries have many common interests and I hope this will be another step toward realising the full potential of the US-India partnership,” Bera said.
Bera will be part of the delegation travelling this Saturday to New Delhi where they will attend Republic Day events and meet with Indian leaders to discuss strengthening and expanding the US-India strategic partnership.
Only the third Indian-American to ever serve in Congress, Bera made his first official trip to India in 2013, meeting with business leaders, government officials, policy advocates and innovators in the non-profit sector to identify opportunities to advance the relationship between United States and India.
During that trip, Bera helped facilitate an agreement between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the University of California Davis Postharvest Technology Centre to collaborate on postharvest technology to reduce food losses due to spoilage.
He also secured a pledge from CII to bring a delegation of Indian CEOs and potential investors to Sacramento County to learn more about opportunities in the region.
Bera became India Caucus co-chair at the beginning of the current 114th Congress.
Formed in 1993, the India Caucus is a bipartisan group of members dedicated to championing strong ties between the US and India and supporting the Indian-American community.
It is the largest country caucus in Congress. (PTI)
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