The World from The Hill: Strong bond urged with ‘most important ally’ India

The leaders of one of the largest caucuses in Congress marked India’s
independence day by encouraging stronger ties between Washington and the
world’s largest democracy.

This includes a push for heightened security cooperation as India faces threats from
terrorist organizations rooted in its nuclear neighbor, Pakistan, say the co-chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on India and
Indian-Americans.

{mosads}India
was rocked in 2008 by the Mumbai attacks, which were considered an
evolution in smaller-scale terrorist operations. Ten gunmen spreading
out to various public locations killed 166 people over three days.

Indications last fall that al Qaeda had been planning a Mumbai-style
attack in European tourist destinations put the EU on alert and sparked a State Department
travel caution.

The terror spree also was an ominous warning that
what is tested by terror operatives in India could easily happen on the
soil of its allies.

“There is a whole amalgam of Islamist groups that operate on
Pakistani soil; those groups often end up targeting Europe or the U.S.,” caucus co-chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) told The Hill.

“One of the greatest threats out there is another Mumbai,” said Royce,
who is also chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. “Greater cooperation with India in terms of counterterrorism is essential in this regard.”

The other co-chairman, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), introduced a
resolution Wednesday, India’s Republic Day, calling for “the
continued strengthening of relations between the United States and the
Republic of India.” It also “recognizes the people and Government of
India for building and maintaining a constitutional democracy.” The measure has
10 co-sponsors, including Royce.

“India is probably going to be our most important ally this
century,” Crowley, who also sits on the Foreign Affairs panel, told The
Hill, stressing the common security and economic interests shared by the
two powers.

On Friday, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon met with his Indian
counterpart at the White House for “candid, in-depth discussions”
following up on those issues tackled during President Obama’s November
visit.

That includes greater economic cooperation between the U.S. and one of its largest trading and investment partners.

Royce
pointed out the stability of India through the global recession, though
he said reforms are needed on the “burdensome regulatory environment
that discourages private sector growth there.”

“You can imagine how both our economies would benefit from increased
engagement and cutting back bureaucratic red tape,” he said.

The
greater cooperation sought includes defense. Royce noted the importance
of moving New Dehli away from its tradition of buying Russian military
equipment, which goes back to the country’s long relationship with the
Soviets, and instead purchasing U.S. defense products.

“I often remind the Obama administration of the importance of this
aspect,” Royce said, stressing that a generation later there’s been a
shift “in India’s overreliance from what was the former Soviet Union to a
stronger relationship with the United States.”

The India caucus boasts about 180 members from both sides of the
aisle. It was formed in 1993, after the fall of the Soviet Union and at a
time when India’s close ties with Moscow had sullied India’s relations
with Washington. The caucus founders saw the formation as an opportunity
to educate members about the change of direction within India.

“It is a country based upon democratic ideals and political pluralism,” Royce said.

The
large number of members in the caucus, Crowley said, “is really
reflective of the Indo-American community; they’re in every town, every
city in America.”

The members bring concerns of their constituencies that extend
beyond foreign relations, he said, to include discrimination issues such
as Sikhs being singled out for wearing turbans.

Humanitarian concerns drive the caucus members, as well.

Royce said the caucus has become “very engaged” in an effort that
involves the Red Cross, World Health Organization and Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to vaccinate children against measles in
the country of nearly 1.2 billion people, where every day more than 300
youths die of the disease.

The caucus also pushes cooperative efforts in earthquake-aftermath
preparation, which Indian-American engineers working for FEMA in
California have done with their Indian counterparts.

Both congressmen said increased security cooperation with India shouldn’t put a damper on U.S. influence with Pakistan.

Crowley said U.S. involvement with both of the nuclear nemeses
can help them “find a way forward, create a better dialogue and
atmosphere between the two countries so that the threat of war is
diminished.”

Royce said the extremism threatening India also threatens
Pakistan. He referenced the recent assassination of Punjabi governor
Salman Taseer, a liberal politician shot by his own guard in Islamabad.
Afterward, 500 Pakistani religious scholars warned that anyone who
mourned the governor, who opposed capital punishment blasphemy laws,
would suffer the same fate.

“If the government had removed him from the governorship, there
wouldn’t have been the need for someone to shoot him,” Jamaat-e-Islami,
one of Pakistan’s main Islamist political parties, said in a statement
after the Jan. 4 killing.

“For the average Indian, change in Pakistani society in the growth
of extremism represents something of a shock,” Royce said. “They see
Pakistani society apparently evolving toward a tolerance for jihadi-type
activities or the elimination of minorities in Pakistan. … This gives
rise to concerns about the security of the region.”

Especially in the face of the terrorism within Pakistan, Crowley
said, he believes both Pakistan and India “understand that the U.S. will
do what’s in our interest to promote security here and abroad.”

“India and the U.S. face similar challenges. Look no further than
what happened in Mumbai; they’re under constant threat,” he said. “India
has known terrorism for quite some time and I think there’s quite a lot
we can learn from India, and vice versa.”