India, US need to cooperate more closely in Indo-Pacific region: Wilson

Observing that a strong and vibrant India-US relationship demonstrates their shared values, a top American lawmaker has underscored the need for the two countries to cooperate more closely in the Indo-Pacific.

Congressman Joe Wilson said in the House of Representatives this week that certainly there are issues of mutual concern with regard to China's malign goals in the region, and added that the partnership to counter these authoritarian aspirations should be robust,

To take US and India ties forward and to realize the full spirit of our strategic partnership, the USA and the Republic of India need to cooperate more closely in the Indo-Pacific, Congressman Joe Wilson said in the House of Representatives this week. said the Congressman from South Carolina.

Observing that the India US alliance is mutually beneficial, Wilson said he grew up with an appreciation for the people of India, because his father, First Lieutenant Hugh Wilson, served there in the U.S. Army Air Corps Flying Tigers in 1944, where he recognised the industriousness of the people of India.

Madam Speaker, the strong and vibrant relationship between India, the world's largest democracy, and the United States, the world's oldest democracy, has demonstrated our shared values for Rule of Law, Wilson said.

I am particularly grateful for the prosperous Indian-American community in South Carolina and look forward to its continued growth and achievements, he said.

In 2014 in New York at Madison Square Garden, I helped welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2016 in Washington, I was on the Escort Committee for the Prime Minister's address to Congress, in 2019 in New Delhi at the Red Fort, I attended Indian Independence Day, and in 2019 at the Howdy Modi program in Houston at the Astrodome, I joined President Donald Trump to recognize the Prime Minister, he added.

Observing that South Carolina's first female governor in 340 years was appropriately Nikki Randhawa Haley, Wilson said that of all the immigrant groups in the United States the Indian-American community has achieved the highest per capita income level.

I appreciate the visits with India's Consul General Dr. Swati V. Kulkarni of Atlanta and Mr. KV Kumar, President and CEO of the Indian American International Chamber of Commerce to discuss the bilateral relationship between India and the United States, Wilson said.

Bilateral trade in goods between the two countries crossed the USD100 billion mark in 2021, making it the largest volume of goods trade in a calendar year in India-U.S. economic history. This also represents an almost 45 percent jump from 2020, which is the single biggest jump of all the U.S. trade partners, said the Congressman.

Working together, Indian industry can build dynamic military manufacturing to be independent of foreign suppliers. The talks with Consul General also covered conversation on mass murder by war criminal Putin in Ukraine, its implications, and current regional developments, Wilson said in his remarks.