December 19, 2012
By Geeta Goindi
WASHINGTON – Senator Mark Warner (Democrat – Virginia), powerful co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, an erstwhile Governor of Virginia and a multimillionaire entrepreneur, has heaped praise on the Indian-American community, acknowledging its rise and prominence on the American stage.
December 19, 2012
By Geeta Goindi
WASHINGTON – Senator Mark Warner (Democrat – Virginia), powerful co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, an erstwhile Governor of Virginia and a multimillionaire entrepreneur, has heaped praise on the Indian-American community, acknowledging its rise and prominence on the American stage.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia (left) with Dharmendra Patel, Director of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, at ‘A Commonwealth Coffee with Virginia’s Indian-American Community’.
“I think it is a great success story”, he told, INDIA THIS WEEK. “You see where the Indian-American community came from being twenty years ago – scientists, engineers, some hotel owners – now, to Indian-Americans in all aspects of politics, in media, in film. The Indian-American community is so strong. It’s such an example of the real American experience. If you think of the number of entrepreneurs in the Indian-American community, if you think about the strong ties to family, if you think about the strong emphasis on education, these are American values also”.
The lawmaker cautioned, “not every Indian-American is 100 percent successful and owns a business. We have to constantly remember that there is diversity in the Indian-American community just as there is in any community. In many ways, people view the Indian-American community as the most successful recent immigrant community of any group”, he said.
Senator Warner spoke to us, one-on-one, at ‘A Commonwealth Coffee with Virginia’s Indian-American Community’, an event he hosted on Capitol Hill to meet and mingle with activists and leaders in politics, business, industry, religion, education, hospitality and entertainment.
At 39 members, the India Caucus is the largest country-specific bipartisan body in the Senate and Warner hopes it will continue to grow from strength-to-strength. We queried the influential lawmaker about the direction in which India-US relations are headed.
“I think the relationship continues to be strong”, he replied. “I hope the Caucus can be an American voice that continues to say to the American government, this is an important relationship. It is an important relationship economically. It is an important relationship in terms of mutual security concerns and it is an important relationship between two nations that have strong democratic institutions”.
Regarding bilateral defense ties, Senator Warner underscored that “American-Indian security and defense interests align very closely. I think America should not try to over force that relationship because I think it is in India’s self-interest when we think about extremists in the region”, he said. “Both are aware of the emergence of China and are watching that. India has a proud history of being non-aligned. I think India wants to maintain its non-aligned status. But, India’s self-interests and America’s self-interests come together many times”, he emphasized.
The lawmaker noted “how challenging India-US relations were 15 years ago, how much better they are now. For a while, it was like a rocket ship going up”, he said. “Now, we have hit a few bumps in the last year, for example, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), trying to make sure we work through the details on the nuclear issue. We have to do more on the American side in terms of working on the visa problems. But, I think these are signs of a healthy, mature relationship between two major countries. So, my hope is as chair of the Caucus, we can continue to help trying to work through these difficulties”.
Senator Warner welcomed the Indian Parliament’s decision, last week, to allow FDI in multi-brand retail that will allow US chains like Walmart to open shop in the country. “The Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) will be the next step”, he said. “I hope we will move towards a full trade agreement at some point”.
In our candid conversation, Warner told us: “When I was in India last, people were asking, is the American-Indian relationship now on the rocks? I said, I don’t believe it is on the rocks. I just believe it had been moving so quickly, so forward. Now, it is becoming a more mature relationship. So, in any mature relationship, even between friends, you are going to have some bumps. These are just things we are going to have to work through”.
He noted that it is easy to make big announcements, like when President Obama and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh meet, but working through the details is where some hurdles come up “That’s just democracy”, he said.
Community Special by MYDOSTI.COM
