Indian American community leaders , who are aiming to increase the membership of the India Caucus, recently met with Republican Congressman from New York Anthony D’Esposito and urged him to join the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.
The caucus is a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers dedicated to strengthening ties between India and the United States.
The Caucus Membership Drive Committee, led by chairman Varinder Bhalla and including prominent members Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori, Sudhir Vaishnav, Hussain Baqueri, Gobind Munjal, and Gunjan Rastogi, briefed Congressman D’Esposito on the caucus's history and importance.
Hussain Baqueri emphasized the growth in India-US bilateral trade, noting that it has increased fiftyfold, from $4 billion in 1993 to $200 billion in 2023. Sudhir Vaishnav highlighted the growing defense and security relationship between the two countries.
The India Caucus, founded in 1993 by Congressmen Frank Pallone (NJ) and Bill McCollum (FL), is now the largest single-country caucus in the House of Representatives with 142 members. "We are aiming to increase membership of the India Caucus to 200 in the next two years," said Dr. Nori, reflecting the committee’s long-term goals.
The Caucus Membership Drive Committee is an extension of the Indian American Voters Forum, a group formed in 2008 to promote greater political participation among Indian Americans. The forum played a key role in persuading New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to join the Senate India Caucus in 2010, which was originally established in 2004 by Senator John Cornyn and then-Senator Hillary Clinton.
Congressman Tom Suozzi, who joined the India Caucus in July, is encouraging his colleagues, including Congressman Joe Courtney, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and Congresswoman Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, to also become members, a news release stated.
The membership drive, which was initiated at the recommendation of Consul General Binaya Pradhan, continues to gather momentum as it seeks to further solidify US-India relations.
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