Top U.S. lawmaker Pitches For Expanding Indo-U.S. Cooperation

Washington: Describing India as a fast growing economic power, a top U.S. lawmaker has pitched for expanding bilateral co-operation on a wide range of issues including counter-terrorism.

Congressman Brad Sherman, a senior member of powerful House Foreign Relations Committee, said this during a meeting with the new Indian Ambassador to the U.S., S Jaishankar at the Capitol Hill. "The Ambassador and I discussed U.S.-India civilian nuclear cooperation, ways to expand economic relations between India and the U.S. critical security issues in South and Central Asia, and cooperation on counter-terrorism," Sherman said in a statement.

We discussed working with the Indian-American community to achieve "common goals" and pursue "shared interests", he said. "India is the world's largest democracy and a fast growing economic power. The U.S.-India relationship is based on the shared values of democracy, individual freedom, religious pluralism, and economic prosperity. "I will continue to work very closely with the Indian- American community to strengthen the relationship between the two nations," Sherman said. A Democratic lawmaker from California, Sherman has established friendship with several of India's ambassadors to the U.S.

In the few weeks that ,he has been in Washington as the new Indian Ambassador, Jaishankar has met nearly a number of top lawmakers from both the Republican and the Democratic parties including the Speaker of the U.S.  House of Representatives, John Boehner, among others. In all these meetings, it is understood that Jaishankar briefed lawmakers on the bilateral relations including the political, defense and economic ties. With all of them, the Ambassador is believed to have taken up India's concerns on the proposed immigration reform and the need to ensure that the H-1B employers are treated in a fair manner. Jaishankar is also understood to have put across the Indian point of view on arrest and indictment of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York last month on charges of visa fraud and misrepresentation of facts.

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