US lawmakers look forward to new government in India after general elections

WASHINGTON: Influential US lawmakers have wished Indians well noting that they are looking forward to strengthening bilateral ties with India with the formation of the next government in New Delhi after the general election. As one of the founding members of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Congressman Eliot Engel, Ranking Member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he is pleased by the transformation that has occurred in the US-India relationship over the past couple of decades. This transformation could not have happened without the strong leadership of both major political parties in India and the United States, he noted.

"I look forward to hearing the results of the election and to working with India's new government to further advance the US-India partnership. Though we will have challenges, the potential of what our two countries can do together is limitless," Engel said. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine in a statement conveyed his admiration and best wishes to the people of India at the start of the general election.

"As the world's oldest and largest democracies, the US and India have a strong partnership grounded in common values and shared interests. The partnership has grown to unprecedented levels over the past decade," he said.

The potential and promise of what President Barack Obama has called the leading partnership of the 21st century is real: bilateral trade has reached USD 100 billion, Indian companies have invested $ 17 billion in the US, 100,000 Indian students study in the US, and a 3-million-strong Indian-American community underpins the relationship, he said. "This is a relationship that enjoys broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. I'm a proud member of the India Caucus - among the largest in Congress - and am privileged to have jurisdiction over US-India issues as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs," Kaine said.

"The US will continue to work with the new government to further strengthen the ties between our two great democracies," he added. "At a time of growing global challenges, our partnership is more crucial than ever to the peace and prosperity of Asia Pacific and beyond. Governments come and go, ministers may change portfolios, but our people-to-people ties, democratic values and shared interests are enduring," Kaine said.