‘US could help stabilise India-Pak relationship’

Fresh from his trip to India, Congressman Ami Bera hoped that the United States would help stabilise the relationship between India and Pakistan.

Talking to the media on his just concluded India trip, the Indian-American Congressman from California hoped that in addition to discussing the India-Pak ties, Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh and the US President Barack Obama at a meeting in Washington later this month would also discuss the Afghan situation post 2014.

Bera is the only serving Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress and the third-ever Indian American elected to the House of Representatives.

Bera hoped that Obama and Singh would address how the US could help bring stability to the India-Pakistan relationship.

India, he said, is the anchor of political stability in South Asia and the broader region. As such it remains a primary strategic partner and geopolitical ally of Washington.

Bera also asserted that the Indian economy would soon bounce back, despite the recent setback it has received reflected in the slide in the Indian rupee.

“The general mood in India right now is there are economic challenges. We went through something very similar four years ago and we are starting to recover now,” he said.

“The long-term prospects look good and the growth rate will still be around five per cent,” he added.

Bera said that he had a very productive trip which helped him learn about new ways the countries can grow their economic partnership to benefit both economies.

“As the son of parents who immigrated to America from India more than 50 years ago, I was also proud to be able to return to India as a United States Congressman,” he said.

On the trip — his first to India since taking office — Bera helped facilitate an agreement between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the University of California Davis Postharvest Technology Center to collaborate on postharvest technology to reduce food losses due to spoilage.

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