SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Sen. Mark Warner, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, held a roundtable discussion meeting Oct. 26 with young leaders of the San Francisco Bay Area Indian American community to discuss future directions for the newly-resurrected committee.
"There's an opportunity here to take this Caucus and make it into something bigger than it's been," said Warner, D-Virginia, at the mid-morning discussion held at the offices of DLA-Piper here. "I want to expand the role of the Caucus beyond the issues of trade and terrorism," he said. "India's really hot right now. Should the Caucus just be promoting stronger ties between the two countries or can it take on stronger political issues," queried Warner, who has held similar roundtables in NewYork, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.
Warner assumed the role of Caucus co-chair in November 2010. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also co-chairs the Caucus, which currently boasts 39 members from both parties and is the largest bi-lateral caucus in the Senate. The Senate India Caucus reached its tipping point in 2008, lobbying hard across party lines for passage of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal, which passed the Senate with 86 votes in favor of the agreement and 13 against. Warner discussed the Caucus's potential role in sorting out what he termed the "mess" in the U.S.'s current immigration policies, advocating for an expansion of the entrepreneur visa, which currently allows foreigners who invest more than $1 million in the country to attain a U.S. visa. Warner also called for an expansion of the STEM program, which allows students in the science, technology, engineering and math fields to stay on for an additional 17 months for practical training after completing their studies. Concurrently, Warner also explored the idea of American community colleges filling in the gap in providing trades training for Indians.
"India is producing lots and lots of engineers, but not enough auto mechanics," asserted Warner, adding that Indians need skill sets in such trades. The 55-year-old former governor of Virginia also called for a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S., and for greater foreign investment by India in the U.S. He cited the examples of Japanese businessmen, who reinvested resources in the U.S. in the early 1990s to quell a rise in anti-trade bias amongst Americans. Virginia's junior senator also discussed the possibility of the Caucus taking on "micro" issues, but dodged a question by India-West as to whether the committee would intervene on behalf of 1,500 former students of Tri Valley University in Pleasanton, Calif., who now face deportation after TVU was raided and shut down by immigration officials in January. Warner also dodged a second question by India-West regarding greater transparency by Indian administrative officials; many potential Indian investors have cited corruption as the greatest barrier to doing business in India. "We can't tell the Indian government what to do," responded Warner briefly. In a telephone interview after the roundtable, Ron Somers, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, told India-West, "It's not our role to interfere with the Government of India, but from the standpoint of the U.S. business community, more transparency is good for democracy and good for business, with more predictable outcomes in transactions." The Senate India Caucus could set the agenda for newly-confirmed Commerce Secretary John Bryson's dealings with India and also expand President Barack Obama's plans for increased transactions between the two countries. Characterizing India as an enormous free-market democracy that likes American goods and services, Somers said there was tremendous opportunity for American entrepreneurs to sell their products in India, especially in second-tier cities and rural villages.
US-India trade is currently valued at $62 billion, while US-China trade has reached $600 billion, he noted.
Somers also advocated for an expansion of Indian capital in the US. "We need more Indian investments to create jobs here. The Caucus should extend an invitation to Indian companies to do business in America," he said, citing the Indian companies Tata, Wipro and Infosys, among others, who have reinvested in the U.S.
A large congressional delegation will set off for India Jan. 8-14, 2012, visiting several second-tier cities throughout the country. Shelly Kapoor Collins, founder and CEO of Rootsquare, who moderated the Oct. 26 discussion, told India-West that the delegation is still doing the legwork for its trip, but has confirmed a visit to an IT company in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and the inaugural ribbon-cutting of a non-profit hospital in Hyderabad.
Rootsquare - which enables non-profit organizations and political campaigns to connect with their supporters using social media - is designing the Senate India Caucus's Web site and planning its social media strategy, said Collins.
"There's an opportunity here to take this Caucus and make it into something bigger than it's been," said Warner, D-Virginia, at the mid-morning discussion held at the offices of DLA-Piper here. "I want to expand the role of the Caucus beyond the issues of trade and terrorism," he said. "India's really hot right now. Should the Caucus just be promoting stronger ties between the two countries or can it take on stronger political issues," queried Warner, who has held similar roundtables in NewYork, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.
Warner assumed the role of Caucus co-chair in November 2010. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also co-chairs the Caucus, which currently boasts 39 members from both parties and is the largest bi-lateral caucus in the Senate. The Senate India Caucus reached its tipping point in 2008, lobbying hard across party lines for passage of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal, which passed the Senate with 86 votes in favor of the agreement and 13 against. Warner discussed the Caucus's potential role in sorting out what he termed the "mess" in the U.S.'s current immigration policies, advocating for an expansion of the entrepreneur visa, which currently allows foreigners who invest more than $1 million in the country to attain a U.S. visa. Warner also called for an expansion of the STEM program, which allows students in the science, technology, engineering and math fields to stay on for an additional 17 months for practical training after completing their studies. Concurrently, Warner also explored the idea of American community colleges filling in the gap in providing trades training for Indians.
"India is producing lots and lots of engineers, but not enough auto mechanics," asserted Warner, adding that Indians need skill sets in such trades. The 55-year-old former governor of Virginia also called for a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S., and for greater foreign investment by India in the U.S. He cited the examples of Japanese businessmen, who reinvested resources in the U.S. in the early 1990s to quell a rise in anti-trade bias amongst Americans. Virginia's junior senator also discussed the possibility of the Caucus taking on "micro" issues, but dodged a question by India-West as to whether the committee would intervene on behalf of 1,500 former students of Tri Valley University in Pleasanton, Calif., who now face deportation after TVU was raided and shut down by immigration officials in January. Warner also dodged a second question by India-West regarding greater transparency by Indian administrative officials; many potential Indian investors have cited corruption as the greatest barrier to doing business in India. "We can't tell the Indian government what to do," responded Warner briefly. In a telephone interview after the roundtable, Ron Somers, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, told India-West, "It's not our role to interfere with the Government of India, but from the standpoint of the U.S. business community, more transparency is good for democracy and good for business, with more predictable outcomes in transactions." The Senate India Caucus could set the agenda for newly-confirmed Commerce Secretary John Bryson's dealings with India and also expand President Barack Obama's plans for increased transactions between the two countries. Characterizing India as an enormous free-market democracy that likes American goods and services, Somers said there was tremendous opportunity for American entrepreneurs to sell their products in India, especially in second-tier cities and rural villages.
US-India trade is currently valued at $62 billion, while US-China trade has reached $600 billion, he noted.
Somers also advocated for an expansion of Indian capital in the US. "We need more Indian investments to create jobs here. The Caucus should extend an invitation to Indian companies to do business in America," he said, citing the Indian companies Tata, Wipro and Infosys, among others, who have reinvested in the U.S.
A large congressional delegation will set off for India Jan. 8-14, 2012, visiting several second-tier cities throughout the country. Shelly Kapoor Collins, founder and CEO of Rootsquare, who moderated the Oct. 26 discussion, told India-West that the delegation is still doing the legwork for its trip, but has confirmed a visit to an IT company in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and the inaugural ribbon-cutting of a non-profit hospital in Hyderabad.
Rootsquare - which enables non-profit organizations and political campaigns to connect with their supporters using social media - is designing the Senate India Caucus's Web site and planning its social media strategy, said Collins.
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