Congressman Michael McCaul during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed ways to strengthen US-India partnership amid shared threat of the Chinese Communist Party.
“I told Prime Minister Modi it is in the strategic interest of both United States and India to partner together to ensure democratic countries remain the leaders in producing both next generation weapons and technology,” stated McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
McCaul is leading the US bipartisan congressional delegation in India.
“Together we can send a powerful message of deterrence to the Chinese Communist Party because when the world’s two largest democracies stand together, freedom and liberty win out over tyranny and oppression,” McCaul said in a statement on June.20.
In their conversation, McCaul also emphasized the importance of bolstering both the bilateral alliance with India and the Quad partnership. India is a member of the Quad — comprising the United States, Australia, and Japan – which aims at ensuring a free and peaceful Indo-Pacific.
“I also invited Prime Minister Modi to visit me in Texas,” the lawmaker said. “We have a large Indian diaspora in the Lone Star state and I let him know he would be welcomed with open arms.”
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis meets Dalai Lama
During their India visit, the US delegation which includes Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis also met with His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama, 88, lives in exile in Dharamsala – the town in the northern Indian Himalayas.
Malliotakis presented Dalai Lama with gifts, including a framed photograph from The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on Staten Island, which he had visited in 1991, and an assortment of teas from the museum’s label.
"It was an incredible honor to meet with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama to discuss the Resolve Tibet Act recently passed by both the House and Senate and awaiting President Biden’s signature that would enact an official change in US policy toward Tibet, promote human rights, self-determination and democracy for the Tibetan people and combat Communist China’s misinformation about Tibet’s history," Malliotakis said in a statement.
“New York City is home to the largest Tibetan population outside of Asia and I’ve been proud to work with the Tibetan community and a bipartisan group in speaking out against China’s human rights abuses and illegal occupation of Tibet, and it’s my hope that our advocacy brings the Tibetan people one step closer to being able to peacefully return to their homeland and determine their future."
Additionally, the delegation also met with Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, and the US-India Business Council to discuss national security, trade, and enhancing the strategic partnership between the two nations, aiming to reduce dependency on China in their supply chains.
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