Over 90 Indian-American community leaders and political activists, who were catalytic in pushing through the passage of the legislation, took part in the ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
Participants included members of the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has written to House Speaker Paul Ryan, asking him to raise the issue of religious freedom in India during his meeting with PM Modi.
It would be a huge achievement if the new administration manages a successful transition to some sense of domestic and international normalcy in these frantic times marked by the pandemic and rise of illiberal regimes across the world, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Lobbying on the Hill is time consuming and cumbersome, but very effective to influence US government policies, asserts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Washington, DC after the 1998 nuclear tests and during the Kargil War.
Gary Ackerman, New York Democrat, while acknowledging that he has been one of the strongest critics of President George Bush on his foreign policy, has said however, that in the case of India, Bush had got it "absolutely right."
The names of two Indian-Americans -- Seema Verma and Bobby Jindal -- have emerged as possible candidates.
South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson has been named the Republican Co Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.
It is one of the three top priorities -- the other two being the Vietnam Trade Bill and Domestic Surveillance legislation.
A US Congress-constituted quasi-judicial body on Wednesday asked the Joe Biden Administration to designate four nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern", alleging that religious freedom conditions there in 2020 continued their negative trajectory.
The official added that this could be shelved unless Pakistan provides the US government with access to renegade nuclear scientist A Q Khan.
"I am concerned that this decision by the Bush administration, coupled with their continued policy of increased military assistance for Pakistan, will mean a step backward in the US-India relations," Pallone said.
The Congressional Research Service stipulated three conditions: cooperation on Khan's network, commitment to bar nuclear tests and transfers and restraint on nuclear and missile competition with India.
If elected president, the Republican nominee said he would declare China a currency manipulator, cancel payments to United Nations for combating climate change and renegotiating NAFTA.
'India has to think about modulating its position on Iran,' says US Congressman and India ally Gary Ackerman.
A group of top United States lawmakers have urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to release Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who allegedly helped to track down Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Some US prominent lawmakers have urged the American government to follow suit as it is believed that the short video-sharing app is a major security risk to the country.
'That they don't have a say in the UN, like China, is hard for me to understand,' says US Congressman Joseph Crowley.
Pakistan's close ties with China and its lack of democracy and disregard for human rights will not be overlooked, said Haqqani, who currently is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute think-tank in Washington.
A Capitol Police officer was killed and another injured after a man rammed his car into a security barrier outside the United States Capitol and then got out of the vehicle and lunged towards the officers with a knife, setting off a major security scare.
In the brief, the 11 lawmakers argued that the District Court was wrong in refusing to consider India's statement requesting cleanup of the Bhopal plant.
Ironically, the opponents of the deal in the US are concerned about the narrow aspects of non-proliferation, while its critics in India are fighting the larger issue of US domination.
A Republican Congressman has mooted a proposal to amend the US Atomic Energy Act, 1954, so that it could formalise the civilian nuclear deal reached between India and the United States early in March.
United States Congressman Joseph Crowley has nominated India's Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the Nobel Peace Prize saying that the godman had helped bring peace to thousands of people through his Art of Living Foundation.
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating if there was any violation of rules or if any sensitive information was compromised because of this e-mail scandal.
A former top American diplomat, considered to be the architect of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, on Friday urged US President Barack Obama to reach out to India's prime minister-designate Narendra Modi for an early meeting.
As the United States prepares to sell F-16s to Pakistan, the country's former top diplomat has warned the Congress that such fighter jets would end up being used against India and not against terrorists.
'The United States stands with India, and we remain dedicated to defeating terrorists who attack our allies,' Congressman Joe Wilson said on the floor of the house.
President Donald Trump has tapped Jerome "Jay" Powell to lead the US central bank, bypassing Janet Yellen for a second term despite praising her excellent management of the world's largest economy over the past four years.
BWith a distracted president brooding in the White House, Pompeo seems to think his day has come. He seems to be pushing a personal agenda before a target audience in America, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The 'Make America White Again' sign was posted by Rick Tyler, an independent candidate in the race for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district seat, currently held by Republican Chuck Fleischmann.
Admiral Philips Davidson, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, also told the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that China's recent activities along the Line of Actual Control have opened India's eyes to what cooperative effort with others might mean for their own defensive needs as he observed that New Delhi, in the very near term, will deepen its engagement with the Quad.
Under the current laws, anyone born in the US irrespective of the nationality of parents, automatically becomes an American citizen.
