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Rediff.com  » News » US introduces bill to designate India as its special global partner

US introduces bill to designate India as its special global partner

By Lalit K Jha
June 09, 2016 11:24 IST
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Two top United States lawmakers have introduced a legislation in the House of Representatives to designate India as a special global partner of America and take steps to ramp up engagement and deepen bilateral
collaboration on a host of issues including defence.

Introduced by Congressman Eliot Engel, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Joe Crowley, the "Special Global Partnership with India Act 2016" aims to enhance ties between India and the US by elevating the status of the bilateral relationship.

The Special Global Partnership with India Act of 2016 calls for the Congress to elevate the US-India relationship by designating India as a special global partner of the US, leading to greater cooperation across sectors ranging from defense and space to entrepreneurship and innovation.

It would also amend the Arms Export Control Act, allowing the President to include India among US's closest allies.

This bill would also authorize the US President to give India an exception to allow for strategic trade authority, and codify assistance in all areas that would support key priorities, such as education, growth in the digital sector, and environmental protection.

"This bill would give our relationship the status it deserves by naming India a special global partner and ensuring that our close collaboration continues for years to come," Engel said after he introduced the act after listening to the prime minister addressing the joint session of the US Congress.

"I just had the honor to watch Prime Minister Modi address a joint meeting of the Congress, and it is clear that the United States and India are successfully steering our relationship from contention to cooperation," he said.

"From defense to scientific research, from climate change to economic innovation, we are working more closely with the people and government of India than ever before. Now we need to make those ties even stronger," Engel said.

"The US-India relationship-rooted in shared democratic values and strong people-to-people ties-is one of the world's most rapidly growing partnerships, and I believe that a strong US-India relationship should and will serve as a cornerstone of US foreign policy in decades ahead," Congressman Crowley said.

"By naming India a Special Global Partner, we can further solidify our critical, strategic partnership and continue our shared efforts in opening in the next chapter of US-India relations," Crowley said in a statement.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a strong Indo-US partnership to anchor peace in Asia-Pacific, Senator John Cornyn said that the safety and stability of the region will depend to a great extent on India.

The Republican Senator from Texas took to the Senate floor to describe Modi's address to the joint session of the Congress earlier as a "historic day" in India-US ties.

Modi's comments speak volumes to his commitment to the US-India relationship, said Cornyn, who is Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, the only country-specific caucus in the US Senate.

"When Prime Minister Modi spoke, he talked about his vision for his country's future, including deepening and broadening the relationship with the US. That is really a welcome statement by the Prime Minister," Cornyn said.

"Unfortunately, over the last few years -- seven or eight years of the Obama administration -- many of our friends and allies around the world have questioned our commitment to those friendships and those alliances.

"And conversely, many of our adversaries have become emboldened when they see America retreating from its engagement with the rest of the world," he said.

Cornyn said India joins the US in more joint military exercises than with any other country, and "they have a robust civil nuclear agreement that allows for the exchange of critical information and technology".

"This has been a long time in coming," he said.

In his address to the Congress, the Prime Minister called for a greater Indo-US partnership in the Asia-Pacific region.

"A strong India-US partnership can anchor peace, prosperity and stability from Asia to Africa and from Indian Ocean to the Pacific. It can also help ensure security of the sea lanes of commerce and freedom of navigation on seas.

"But, the effectiveness of our cooperation would increase if international institutions framed with the mindset of the 20th century were to reflect the realities of today," Modi had said.

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Lalit K Jha in Washington DC
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