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House Gets a Warning against Dan Burton

A P Kamath in Washington

Two years ago, Dan Burton, the indefatigable India-basher in the House of Representatives, offered an amendment to the foreign operations bill to nearly eliminate all foreign assistance to India. But Burton, who is beholden to the pro-Khalistan lobby, found little support for his bill, which was defeated by 342 votes to 82.

Last year, Burton, an outspoken critic of President Bill Clinton, was forced to admit, following newspaper articles, his own indiscretion that resulted in an illegitimate daughter nearly two decades ago. He did not offer an anti-India amendment last year.

This week, Burton (Republican, Indiana) is expected to propose the amendment, and friends of India on the Hill are urging their colleagues to reject his efforts.

The Burton amendment will be "short-sighted, unfair and counter-productive", wrote Gary L Ackerman and James C Greenwood, co-chairmen of the India Caucus, to their colleagues. The letter praised India's commitment to democracy and free enterprise, lauded New Delhi for showing "Herculean" restraint in combating the foreign incursion into Kargil, and warned that the passing of the amendment would be tantamount to punishing New Delhi for its exemplary behaviour.

"India, the world's largest democracy, has grown increasingly close to the United States, which is now India's largest trading partner and biggest direct investor," the letter said.

"India has a remarkable record of democracy in a region of the world where authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism has been more the rule than exception."

"In addition, India has deeply committed to the principles of free market and competition, which in turn has opened up great avenues of opportunity for American corporations. As the oldest democracy and the best example of free market economics, the United States must continue to build on the sizeable growth in our relationship with India."

Warning that the amendment would hurt America's business interests in India, Ackerman and Greenwood argued: "The Burton amendment would unfairly stigmatize India and inflict major damage on our efforts to have American businesses prosper in the world's second largest consumer market. Adoption of the Burton amendment would have serious consequences for the massive investment in India and would play right into the hands of those who would turn back the clock on major economic reforms that have been put in place."

The letter cited India for having one of the highest rates of growth (6 per cent) and lowest rates of inflation (2 per cent) in the world.

"The Bombay Stock Exchange is booming and is at an all-time high. Investors from all over the world are taking a closer look at India," the letter said.

It added that such major American firms as General Motors, Ford, AT&T, General Electric, Boeing, Raytheon, Citicorp, US West, Bell Atlantic, Motorola, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Hughes, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Eli Lilly and Enron have business in India.

Lauding India's "democratic values, independent judiciary, a robust civil society, an unfettered press, and a highly competitive multi-party system", Ackerman and Greenwood asserted that "all these institutions function fearlessly and effectively to protect all citizens from abuse".

Washington should recognise and appreciate "the extraordinary commitment" New Delhi has made towards protecting basic human rights, the letter said.

"India has made steady and significant progress on all aspects of human rights -- something that cannot be said of several nations in South Asia. New Delhi has a fiercely independent Human Rights Commission which has rendered justice to hundreds of victims of human rights [abuse]," it added.

Burton's amendment would hurt India's indigent people most, Ackerman and Greenwood continued.

"With some 500 million people living at or below the World Bank's poverty line, however, India remains a nation with tremendous human needs. US bilateral aid programs in India make a modest, yet important, contribution to the welfare of [the] ordinary Indian," the letter added.

"Cutting this assistance would be a deliberate attempt to not only torpedo our help for human welfare, but also to stigmatize India just as relations between the world's two great democracies are on the cusp to attain a new and positive momentum."

"Recently, in the face of a dangerous and provocative threat of war over Kashmir in the Kargil area, India displayed Herculean restraint and showed to the world that it was a very mature and responsible power," the two Congressmen wrote.

"New Delhi also co-operated with our efforts to diffuse the volatile situation. We need to encourage this trend, not undermine it. There's much in common that we share with India and there are many issues that bind our relations with that ancient land. The Burton amendment, in effect, will undo all the progress that has been made in building a warm and productive relationship with India."

Next story: Idealist Lawyer Has Her Pay Day in Court

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