Influential Congressman Frank Pallone, convener and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India, has authored an amendment lauding Indian Prime Minister I K Gujrals peace doctrine in South Asia and urged the US to support it. The move comes as part of a pledge Pallone had made that the Caucus would try to be more proactive on behalf of India, instead of always being reactive to anti-India legislation and resolutions introduced in Congress each year by the likes of Rep. Dan Burton.
Pallone plans to introduce it as an amendment to the foreign aid bill scheduled to be taken up by the House of Representatives some time next week. He has begun circulating his legislation in Congress in order to garner support for it.
The legislation urges the Clinton administration to work with Prime Minister Gujral in promoting peace in South Asia and strengthening US-India relations.
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The amendment states that Gujral, leader of the worlds largest democracy, who recently received a vote of confidence from the Indian Parliament, is committed to strengthening ties between the United States and India through the continuation of free market reforms and initiatives.
It also states that the United Front governments budget carries forward economic reforms initiated in 1991 and continues to open India to trade and cut the red tape that has traditionally hindered foreign investment.
It lauds Gujral for being a strong advocate for peace in South Asia and notes that after three years of icy-cold relations between India and Pakistan, he has made it a priority to improve relations with Pakistan and has recently met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, to better relations between the two countries.
Both leaders took the momentous step of creating working groups that will discuss the outstanding issues that have allowed peace to escape from the region, says a letter to Congressional colleagues by Pallone and his other co-chair, Rep. Bill McCollum.
Furthermore, Gujral and several South Asian leaders agreed to informal talks to ease regional tension and foster good relations in order to promote and speed up regional cooperation, they state. Pallone and McCollum urge that in honour of Indias 50th birthday, members of Congress support the Caucus amendment to the Foreign Policy Reform Act, and also urge the Clinton Administration to work closely with Prime Minister Gujral to strengthen relations between the worlds two largest democracies.
However, sources claim that the Indian embassy here has had qualms about it. The embassy, sources say, believes the amendment goes overboard in its praise of India and could unnecessarily provoke the likes of Burton to try and attach an anti-India amendment to the Foreign Aid bill.
According to sources, the embassys line of reasoning is why create problems with a resolution that lavishes praise on India and Prime Minister Gujral when there is no reason to.
Apparently, Pallone by circulating his amendment and the accompanying letter also signed by McCollum, has ignored the embassys concerns and decided to stick to his commitment that the Caucus be proactive on behalf of India as much as it can, whenever possible. Another amendment Pallone has introduced calling for an act of Congress to authorize the establishment of a memorial to honour Mahatma Gandhi on federal land in Washington, will be taken up for a public hearing on June 10 by the National Capital Memorial Commission. Pallones bill, titled A Memorial for Mahatma Gandhi, states that the establishment of the memorial shall be in accordance with the Commemorative Works Act, and the Government of the United States shall not pay any expense of the establishment of the memorial.
The memorial, which Pallone and members of the Caucus are hoping can be built in a plot of land located across from the Indian Embassy here, is to be funded by the Indian government. The embassy has already got the funding cleared from New Delhi.