Private Sector Collaboration: Indian Americans excited over India visit of Congressional team led by Ro Khanna

Ro Khanna, the four-term Indian American Democratic Congressman from California, is leading a bipartisan US Congressional delegation to India, along with Republican Congressman from Florida Michael Waltz. Both the Congressmen are co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. During the visit, the delegation, which also includes Indian American Congressman from Michigan Shri Thanedar; will be present at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address from the Red Fort on August 15 and pay respects at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Raj Ghat. Members of the delegation will also travel to Mumbai and Hyderabad and meet leaders from business, technology, government and Bollywood.

Indian Americans are increasingly being seen in top positions in US government and political roles and the fact that two desi Congressmen are members of the high profile delegation to India is cause for excitement within the community. “The Congressional visit by Representatives Khanna and Thanedar represent a homecoming of sorts. Thanedar was raised in India, and Khanna has been involved in the US-India bilateral, as an Indian American, for some time now.
Only 20 years ago, it was not imaginable that two Indian-Americans would visit India as elected representatives of the United States. The most important part of their visit is the symbolism of the diaspora, and what people of Indian origin can achieve when empowered with the right situation,” Nish Acharya, CEO of Equal Innovation, a consultancy in Boston that advises companies and governments, told the Times of India. He hopes that the two Indian American representatives will speak with the Indian government about private sector collaboration. “While we have had some progress at the government level, those things only translate to impact when the private sector and civil society is involved,” he said.

The symbolism around the strengthening of the US-India relationship is being celebrated by Indian Americans. “Not many issues in the US Congress find bipartisan agreement these days. Representatives Khanna, Thanedar, Waltz and others are doing a great service to the bilateral relationship in undertaking this visit. The Indian Embassy in Washington, DC and several other stakeholders have been working closely with them to create an impactful itinerary,” says Sanjeev Joshipura, the Washington DC based executive director of Indiaspora, a non-profit organisation of global Indian origin leaders.
The Congressional visit will be the first ever when a delegation of US lawmakers attend the Indian Independence Day celebrations and also the first time a US House delegation to India has two Indian American lawmakers. “A large delegation of eight Congressmen visiting Delhi soon after PM Modi’s high voltage state visit to the US implies that members of US Congress want to further push and accelerate the US-India agenda. The bipartisan delegation is co-led by Ro Khanna, as co-chair of the India Caucus in the US House of Representatives. He is an increasingly influential leader in the Democratic Party, and even though critical of India sometimes, he is a great friend of India. Also for the newest member of the Samosa Caucus, Shri Thanedar, this will be his first visit to India in a Congressional delegation,” says Robinder Sachdev, president of Delhi-based think tank Imagindia Institute and one of the founders of US India Political Action Committee, a bipartisan, non-profit organisation in the US.
The fact that the US Congressional team is visiting India close on the heels of PM Modi’s state visit to the US is being seen as signalling many more visits by high-profile delegations. “The nations’ legislative branch interactions with the other country are sometimes overlooked, but are very important. After all, a lot of foreign policy is discussed, debated and crafted on Capitol Hill and in the Indian Parliament, and not only at Foggy Bottom or South Block,” feels Joshipura.
The range of topics that the delegation is likely to cover through its many engagements include technology, defence, geopolitics, trade and commerce, science, and arts and culture. “The agenda of the visit is to add further momentum to the progress of agreements made during PM Modi’s state visit to the US, exploring newer areas of expansion in US-India partnerships that will strengthen multipolarity in Asia, and the denial of China as a hegemon. While engagements in New Delhi will mostly focus on US–India relations and opto-politics, the agenda in Mumbai and Hyderabad will be tailored to promote cultural diplomacy, US exports to India and attracting investments into their constituencies.” feels Sachdev.
The US Congressional delegation is also set to engage in cricket diplomacy. “When they speak with US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, they will find in him an advocate of utilising cricket as a tool to ensure that the two countries bat together on an even better pitch,” Joshipura says.