WASHINGTON: Asserting that it is a "wonderful moment" for Indo-U.S. ties, an influential American Senator has said that currently the opportunities for bilateral cooperation between the two countries are significant.
"This India-America moment is a wonderful one. The opportunities for cooperation are significant," Senator Tim Kaine, who was recently in India, said at the annual Washington gala of American India Foundation (AIF) last week, attended by who's who of the community from the US Capital and its neighbourhood.
"We came back with such a powerful feeling that this India is," Kaine said at the event, where he was felicitated along with the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Biswal, for their inspiring leadership and philanthropic commitment to support AIF's mission to help disadvantaged Indians.
Kaine is the current Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on the Near East, South and Central Asian Affairs, overseeing American foreign policy in this critical region, from Morocco to Bangladesh.
Praising the role of Indian-Americans in nation building and improving bilateral ties between the two countries, Kaine said the talent pool of the Indian-American community is so strong and so diverse that if one is just putting together a team on the aristocracy of merit, this community will be at the forefront.
"That is an aspect of life in this country that makes the Indian-American moment in the relationship between our nations so fruitful right now," Kaine said at the AIF gala.
In all USD 300,000 were raised from the sponsors, donations and from this year's gala pledge drive and silent auction.
Biswal said Indian-Americans have a key role to play in the bilateral India-US relationship.
"As the Indian Prime Minister talks about his agenda for transforming India and his vision for the US-India partnership to be a part of that transformation, the Indian-American community has a very important role to play," Biswal said.
"Transformation is not just 'G to G' (government to government), it's not about PPPs, (public-private- partnerships). Those are very important equations - but it is fundamentally also about 'people to people' ties," she said.
"The US-India relationship is not going to reach its full potential until the full potential of our 'people to people' ties is reached," Biswal said.
"As we look around the world, we recognise that there is no partner that the US has, that deeply respects our values, our views, our perspectives than the nation of India.
"The President saw that coming and declared the US-India relationship to be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," Biswal added.
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