Representatives from the biggest Indian American organisations are converging on Capitol Hill to urge US lawmakers to take a tough line on terror emanating from Pakistan.
Representatives from the biggest Indian American organisations are converging on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to urge US lawmakers to take a tough line on terror emanating from Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks. “Our top priority is to ensure that an effective, long-term approach to terrorism targeting India and the US is developed,” said Sanjay Puri, chairman, US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC).
The group has launched a signature campaign calling for conditions to be attached to US aid to Pakistan. “America needs to demand that Pakistan close down all terror camps in its territory or risk losing US funding that has amounted to over $10 billion in US tax payer dollars since 9/11,” notes the petition.
Representatives from the Indian American Task Force including the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the Association of Indians in America and USINPAC are meeting Illleana Ros-Lehtinen ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Joseph Crowley, Joseph Wilson, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and several other Congressmen.
New Delhi wants the US to get Islamabad to deliver on the Mumbai attacks. Can
Indian Americans really sway over US lawmakers? The Indo-US nuclear energy deal made the India lobby a visibly powerful presence on the Hill. It brought together an Indian government that is savvier about playing the Washington game and the 2.3-million-Indian American community which is just coming into its own as a political force.
The Indian Americans are not only putting a human face, not to mention a voter’s face and a campaign contributor’s face -– to the lobbying push on Capitol Hill; but they are also working in concert with five top Washington think tanks to deliver the message to Washington.
“As we have over the years and most recently in our joint advocacy efforts to advance the US-India civil nuclear agreement, we will continue to work closely with the Indian American Task Force on a range of public policy issues,” said Jason Isaacson, Director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
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