27 US lawmakers to visit India |
A record number of 27 US lawmakers will visit India this month ( Feb 2017) in two separate delegations, it was announced at a Congressional reception, reflecting one of the rare bipartisan mandates in a fractious town - support for stronger ties with New Delhi. One delegation of 19 lawmakers will visit New Delhi and Hyderabad from February 20 to 25 to discuss US-India strategic ties under the aegis of Aspen Institute. Another CoDel (Congressional Delegation) of eight members will visit New Delhi and Bangalore from February 20 to 23. There have been previous such large visits to India, most notably in 2013 when 21 lawmakers visited for an Aspen Congressional program to examine policy challenges for US in South Asia. But the fact that this is happening at time Washington is riven with rancorous partisanship in the early weeks of the Trump administration is not lost on anyone, least of all the lawmakers themselves.At a Capitol Hill reception "to celebrate India`s engagement with the 115th US Congress," Steny Hoyer, the House Democratic Whip, spoke of the bipartisan support for the India relationship and emphasized cooperation on security issues between the two countries, while Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher zoned in on the importance of addressing the threat arising from extremist radical terrorism.
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