Clinton seeks bipartisan support for her India initiative

Lalit K Jha

Washington, July 9 (PTI) The US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton has sought to take top Congressional
leadership into confidence in her endeavor to take the Indo-US
relationship to a new level, which she fondly says is 3.0.

Less than a fortnight left for her first trip to India
as the Secretary of State, Clinton had a breakfast meeting
with more than a dozen top Congressional leaders from both
Democratic and Republican parties yesterday, coming from both
the chambers of the Congress - the House of Representative
and the Senate.

"I appreciate the Administration's determination to
strengthen our strategic partnership with India in security,
trade, and many other issues of mutual interest," John Cornyn,
the Republican Senator from Texas, said after the meeting.

Cornyn is founder and co-chair of Senate India Caucus.
Clinton herself was its co-chair last year from the Democratic
side.

The statement coming from Cornyn, a critic of the Obama
Administration reflects the bipartisan support the Indo-US
relationship has gained in the last one decade. Clinton, aware
of this fact, wants to build on it to, what she says, "deepen"
the strategic partnership with India.

The State Department spokesman, Ian Kelly, said Clinton
had broad discussions with US lawmakers on her India trip. "I
am not prepared to talk about details, besides previewing her
trip and talking about a number of issues on the bilateral
agenda," he said.

Attending the crucial meeting with Clinton yesterday
morning were Howard L Berman, Chairman of the House Committee
on Foreign Affairs; besides Congressmen John Crowley, Jerry
Lewis, Jim McDermott, Frank Pallone, Gary Ackerman, Ed Royce
and David Price.

Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee; Senator Richard Lugar, Ranking Member of
the Committee; and Senators Robert P Casey, and James E Risch
also attended the meeting.

"Today I had the opportunity to speak directly with
Secretary Clinton and several of my colleagues about the
United States' strong partnership with India," Cornyn said.

"India is the world's largest democracy - and one of the
world's biggest and most dynamic economies. During this
decade, India and the United States have cooperated more
closely than ever before," he said.

"I look forward to continuing this conversation as
co-chairman of the Senate India Caucus and will continue to
rely on the valuable input I receive from many of my
Indo-American constituents in Texas," he said. PTI LKJ
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