WASHINGTON: A strong India means a strong US, said three influential American lawmakers, as they pledged to work towards strengthening the relationship between the two largest democratic countries of the world at a time when the world was facing many challenges.
Their comments came at a reception hosted by the Indian Embassy here on Tuesday for the visiting Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh.
"I reflect that a strong India is a strong US, said" Congresswoman Haley Stevens, the Vice Chair of the Science Space and Technology Committee who is also the subcommittee chair for research and technology.
"Our plight as democratic nations of large geographies facing complex global challenges from climate change, to certainly a pandemic; challenges that we can turn into opportunities, challenges that create entrepreneurial endeavours; challenges that compel us to continue to come together," she said.
"This is why I am such a believer in the strong US-India relationship," she added.
Congresswoman Stevens represents the 11th Congressional District in Michigan which has one of the largest concentrations of Indian-Americans.
"My communities have benefited very directly from this relationship, not just in terms of the population and the human capital that have continued to make us strong but also because companies like Mahindra chose to become the first OEM (original equipment manufacturer) headquarters in 25 years in a place called Auburn Hills in Troy, Michigan," the Congresswoman said.
Congressman Jerry McNerney from California said that anyone that doesn't see the importance of the relationship between the United States and India is blind.
"India has tremendous intellectual firepower, and you're exercising that power to change the world," he told the select gathering which included the visiting official delegation from India, a delegation of private sector corporate leaders, and officials from the Biden administration.
Congresswoman Deborah Ross, who represents the Research Triangle area in North Carolina which has a significant Indian-American population, in her remarks underscored the importance of the India-US relationship.
She is also a member of the House Science Space and Technology Committee and Judiciary Committee.
Over the past few years, she has emerged as a champion of documented dreamers who have been left out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Documented Dreamers are foreign nationals who entered the United States as dependents under their parents' temporary, nonimmigrant visa status, usually a work visa.
Under US immigration law, at the age of 21, they will "age out" of eligibility for this dependent status.
The DACA allows young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children to work and shields them from deportation.
"We have more than 200,000 young people who are having to self-deport to other places. We've had multiple conversations tonight, why would this country invest in these amazing people and then send them to our competitors," she said.
"We need to make sure that we have an immigration policy that lets people with talent, be where they want to be. Give them an opportunity to innovate, give them an opportunity to work with creative minds, and I just hope that is here in the United States of America, and I will continue to advocate for that," Ross said.