[world-vedic] [indianembassy] An article from Washington Post, October 9, 1999

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>indembwash

 

>Subject:An article from Washington Post, October 9, 1999

>Mon, 11 Oct 1999 11:16:57 -0700

>

>Navtej Sarna

>Counsellor & Spokesman

>Embassy of India

>Washington, DC

>

>Dear Subscribers,

>

>Emailed herewith is a good article by John Lancaster (Washington Post,

>October 9, 1999) focussing on the growing influence of the

>Indian-American

>community. Mr. Lancaster had also met Ambassador Naresh Chandra. For

>lack

>of space, all of Ambassador Chandra's comments could not have been

>included

>in the article. Some of the important points that the Ambassador made

>to

>Mr. Lancaster were:

>

>1. The Indian-American community is a valuable and powerful assest that

>the

>people and Government of India have for projecting India's interests in

>the

>United States, and

>

>2. The Indian-American community has maintained excellent relations

>with the

>elected representatives in the US Congress and this relationship has

>been to

>India's tremendous advantage in projecting the correct perspective on

>important

>issues.

>-----

>-------

>Activism Boosts India's Fortunes

>Politically Vocal Immigrants Help Tilt Policy in Washington

>By John Lancaster

>Washington Post Staff Writer

>Saturday, October 9, 1999; Page A01

>

>It's a long way from Kashmir to the booming high-tech corridors of

>Northern

>Virginia and Silicon Valley. But you wouldn't know it from the deluge

>of e-

>mails that flooded congressional offices in June.

>

>As Indian troops fought to repel a Pakistani incursion in the disputed

>Himalayan province, key staff members were bombarded with demands from

>Indian

>immigrants -- many in the computer and software industries -- for a

>resolution

>condemning Pakistan's "aggression." Lawmakers complied, and a few days

>later

>-- in a White House meeting on July 4 -- President Clinton cited

>congressional

>pressure in urging Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to withdraw

>his

>forces, according to two senior administration officials with direct

>knowledge

>of the conversation.

>

>"It was gratifying for many of us to see a clear pro-India tilt sweep

>this

>city," Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) told a gathering of Indian

>Americans on

>July 20, after Pakistan had withdrawn its forces. "And this unique

>phenomenon

>was made possible in no small measure because of the political activism

>of the

>Indian American community."

>

>The rise of Indian Americans as a powerful and effective domestic lobby

>-- one

>that aspires to the level of influence that American Jews have exerted

>on

>behalf of Israel -- coincides with the emergence in India of a stable

>and

>increasingly self-confident government.

>

>According to election results made public this week, the ruling

>Bharatiya

>Janata Party of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has won a solid

>majority

>in India's parliament, at least in part because of India's perceived

>triumph

>over Pakistan in the latest Kashmir crisis.

>

>The victory by the strongly nationalist BJP has strengthened the hand

>of

>Vajpayee at a time of high tension with Pakistan and continued

>diplomatic

>fallout in Washington over last year's Indian and Pakistani nuclear

>tests.

>

>Since the tests, which triggered U.S. economic sanctions against India

>and

>Pakistan, Vajpayee's government has held a high-level dialogue with

>Washington

>aimed at repairing relations. Indian Americans have figured prominently

>in

>that effort, giving generously to political campaigns and meeting with

>lawmakers and administration officials to explain the security

>rationale

>behind the Indian tests.

>

>During the final decade of the Cold War, Pakistan enjoyed cozy

>relations with

>Washington by virtue of its central role in the CIA-backed war to drive

>Soviet

>forces from Afghanistan and the charm of its Harvard-educated prime

>minister,

>Benazir Bhutto. Indians seethed that Pakistan's influence was far out

>of

>proportion to its size and significance. Now, the tables have turned --

>and

>the nation's 1.4 million Indian Americans have found their political

>voice.

>

>The lobbying effort reflects a widespread belief in the Indian American

>community that India has not been taken seriously in Washington. It

>rankles

>many Indian Americans, for example, that India is not among the five

>permanent

>members of the U.N. Security Council and that no American president has

>visited the country since Jimmy Carter did so in 1978 (although Clinton

>has

>announced that he will visit the region next year).

>

>"Fairness means don't ignore 1 billion people," said Swadesh

>Chatterjee, 53,

>president of the Indian American Forum for Political Education, a

>nationwide

>group that aims to boost political participation by members of the

>community.

>

>Chatterjee, like many Indian Americans, sees no conflict between his

>efforts

>on behalf of India and his patriotism as an American. "We are very

>fortunate --

> we have two mothers," he said.

>

>His own life is a case in point. In 1979, he arrived in New York with

>an

>engineering degree and $35 in his pocket. Now, he runs a North Carolina

>industrial instrumentation firm with 40 employees. His daughter, a

>graduate of

>prestigious Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, is pursuing a

>masters

>degree in international relations at Johns Hopkins University. Yet

>Chatterjee

>has not forgotten his roots: He returns often to Calcutta, his

>hometown, and

>is troubled by what he regards as Washington's dismissive attitude

>toward

>India.

>

>But serving two mothers can be tricky. In 1996, an Indian American

>lawyer,

>Lalit Gadhia, was sentenced to three months in jail after he admitted

>funneling money from an Indian diplomat into U.S. political campaigns.

>Allegations that China also tried to influence the 1996 presidential

>election,

>coupled with the investigation of a Chinese American scientist

>suspected of

>passing nuclear secrets to Beijing, have fueled fears among some Indian

>Americans that political activism will brand them as foreign agents,

>said

>Debasish Mishra, the director of the India Abroad Center for Political

>Awareness here.

>

>"The biggest issue for our community is the perception that we don't

>fully

>belong, that somehow we're not fully American," said Mishra, 26, a

>University

>of Michigan graduate whose organization deliberately eschews

>involvement in

>foreign policy issues.

>

>Even without the efforts of Indian Americans, some improvement in

>relations

>between India and the United States was inevitable after the Soviet

>collapse.

>Despite close ties between the U.S. and Pakistani armed forces,

>Pakistan

>increasingly is regarded in Washington as a locus of Islamic extremism

>and

>instability. India, meanwhile, has benefited from its courtship of

>Western

>investment while playing successfully on its image as the world's

>largest

>democracy.

>

>Although they did not begin arriving in this country in large numbers

>until

>the late 1960s, after a change in U.S. immigration law, Indian

>immigrants have

>emerged as one of the nation's most dynamic ethnic communities.

>According to

>1990 census data, Indian Americans have the highest average household

>income --

> $60,903 -- of any Asian-Pacific ethnic group, a category that includes

>Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans.

>

>Indian entrepreneurial skills have had a spectacular impact in the

>Internet

>and software industries, where Indian Americans have begun to organize

>into

>groups such as the Indus Entrepreneurs and the Indian CEO High Tech

>Council.

>The latter boasts a Washington area membership of 165 Indian American

>chief

>executives whose companies employ nearly 20,000 people.

>

>These software engineers and start-up specialists have not been shy

>about

>translating their economic success into political clout. "In politics,

>the

>power comes from money and business," said Reggie Aggarwal, a

>30-year-old

>lawyer and president of a Fairfax high-tech firm who helped found the

>council. "A group like ours can meet with all kinds of senators and

>congressmen. We're not just going to get you active people, we're going

>to get

>you power players. Every event we've had is a grand slam."

>

>That is no idle boast. In September 1996, Indian American executives

>and

>professionals held a fund-raiser for Clinton at the Mayflower Hotel

>that

>raised a reported $400,000.

>

>Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has already benefited

>from

>the largess of Indian Americans such as Krishna Srinivasa, 54, who

>immigrated

>in 1969 and now runs a computer consulting business in Atlanta. "We

>want

>better Indo-U.S. relations," said Srinivasa, who so far has raised

>$150,000

>for Bush at two campaign events and recently met with the candidate at

>his

>Austin office. "There is no reason the world's largest democracy cannot

>have a

>working relationship with the world's greatest democracy."

>

>Indian Americans' generosity to political campaigns has been

>accompanied by

>growing support for India on Capitol Hill. The Congressional India

>Caucus,

>founded in 1993, now has 115 members. Ackerman, the group's chairman,

>has

>traveled to India six times and employs an Indian American on his staff.

>

>"They have helped a great many members of Congress to understand the

>issues,

>and to focus a little more attention on an area of the world that

>deserves

>more attention," said Ackerman, who receives contributions from Indian

>Americans nationwide.

>

>While groups such as the High Tech Council are focused primarily on

>promoting

>business ties between the United States and South Asia, many Indian

>Americans

>feel passionately about foreign policy matters such as the Kashmir

>conflict.

>

>Rajesh Kadian, for example, is a Great Falls gastroenterologist with

>two

>daughters at the University of Virginia and a teenage son who is a wide

>receiver on the Langley High School football team. But he is also the

>author

>of several books on Indian military strategy and a firm believer in the

>need

>to explain the Indian point of view to American policymakers.

>

>To that end, he organized a 1995 fund-raiser that netted $15,500 for

>Sen.

>Charles S. Robb (D-Va.). He meets occasionally with State Department

>officials

>and, in one instance, helped arrange a meeting between the Indian

>ambassador

>and a key lawmaker -- whom he prefers not to name -- so they could

>discuss the

>nuclear test issue.

>

>"India has never gotten the respect of the United States," Kadian

>complains. "But this is a responsible, important country, and it has a

>role to

>play in the world."

>

>India's standing in Washington suffered a serious setback when it set

>off an

>underground nuclear device in May 1998, prompting Pakistan to respond

>in kind

>several weeks later. The blasts triggered economic sanctions against

>both

>countries, though Clinton subsequently waived some provisions for one

>year.

>

>While Indian Americans were divided over the wisdom of the tests, many

>nonetheless felt it was their duty to defend their native land against

>accusations that its government had acted irresponsibly. The American

>Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, for example, set aside its

>customary emphasis on health care issues and circulated a letter

>explaining

>the "context" of India's decision, according to a spokesman.

>

>India also got help from Chatterjee, the head of the Indian American

>Forum,

>who parlayed his fund-raising activities on behalf of Sen. Jesse Helms

>(R-

>N.C.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, into a

>meeting

>between Helms and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh.

>

>"We told him, 'India needs a fair hearing,' " said Chatterjee, who

>attended

>the meeting along with Srinivasa, the Bush campaign supporter.

>

>Such efforts have started to pay off. At least twice this year, India's

>supporters in Congress blocked legislation that would have cut off its

>foreign

>aid. Similarly, when the House International Relations Committee passed

>a

>resolution blaming Pakistan for last spring's flare-up in Kashmir, the

>White

>House welcomed the move as "a useful way of reminding the [Pakistani]

>prime

>minister and others that Congress could use its influence in ways that

>were

>not in Pakistan's interest," a senior official said.

>

>But Indian Americans do not necessarily march in lockstep with the

>Indian

>government. Congress, for example, is considering legislation that

>would clear

>the way for a resumption of military sales to both India and Pakistan.

>While

>the embassy opposes the move on grounds that it would mostly benefit

>Pakistan,

>which needs spare parts for its U.S.-made hardware, some Indian

>Americans

>favor lifting the ban to help promote business and strategic ties with

>India.

>

>"We have to look at what is good for the United States," said a

>prominent

>Indian American businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We

>are not

>agents of the Indian government."

>

>In the same vein, some Indian Americans are irked by what they consider

>excessive efforts by the Indian Embassy to manipulate the immigrant

>community. "In certain cases, I can tell you, we told them they should

>back

>off, they should not get involved in this," the businessman said.

>

>It is sometimes difficult to discern the line between the embassy's

>lobbying

>efforts and those of Indian Americans. Kapil Sharma, for example, is a

>paid

>lobbyist for India at the law firm of Verner Liipfert. He also serves

>as the

>unpaid political chairman of the Network of South Asian Professionals

>(NETSAP), a nonprofit group that regularly holds meetings on issues

>such as

>Kashmir.

>

>"At any event that we do in NETSAP, there is no tilt toward any

>particular

>agenda," Sharma said. "It's not like this is a forum for the government

>of

>India. What I do professionally is what I do professionally. . . . Our

>record

>[at NETSAP] clearly shows there is no bias."

>

>After the Lalit Gadhia campaign scandal, however, Indian officials have

>grown

>more careful when it comes to involvement in American politics. "We

>don't want

>Indian Americans to be perceived as Indian agents," said Ambassador

>Naresh

>Chandra. "It's a delicate line."

>

>

>

>© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company

>

>

>

>

>

>------

>Embassy of India

>Press & Information

>Washington, DC

>http:\\www.indianembassy.org

>

>

>

 

____