PM Modi's US Visit: 'Obama and Modi have an opportunity to revitalise partnership'

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have an opportunity to revitalise the partnership between India and US, a top Republican senator said today.

In an op-ed published in The Hill newspaper, Senator John Cornyn said that India has a clear and critical role to play in upholding a balance of power favourable to US interests in the region.

He said Obama and the Congress can set the pace of this relationship by making it easier for American companies to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to their Indian counterparts.

"Under current law, our companies are required to seek federal approval for all LNG exports to nations with which we do not have a free trade agreement," said the Senator who has co-sponsored legislation with Senator John Barrasso that would accelerate the approval process for countries like India.

"Our bill would be good for the US economy, good for the US-India partnership and good for our mutual strategic interests," he said.

"Boosting American LNG exports is just one example of a modest but achievable short-term policy objective that would create a new sense of momentum.

"Others include signing a bilateral investment treaty, often the precursor to a free trade agreement and making India a full member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum," he said.

"Whether it is managing the rise of China, combating terrorism, stabilising Afghanistan or protecting the free movement of people and cargo on the high seas, the United States and India are natural allies in confronting some of the biggest global challenges of the early 21st century," he said.

America's strategic partnership with India was one of the greatest diplomatic achievements of former US President George Bush.

He expressed hope that Obama will seize this opportunity to make that partnership stronger.

"When President Obama meets Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has an opportunity to revitalise the partnership between the world's oldest and largest democracies," he wrote.