Congressman Ami Bera, M.D., the only Indian American, and the first Gujarati American in Congress, met with the new Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, earlier today and attended his speech at Madison Square Garden. This is Modi’s first official visit to the US.
Bera offered the following comment:
“As the only Indian American Member of Congress, I was honored to take part in today’s events and I am excited for America to realize the full potential of our relationship with India. Today was a key step toward what I believe can be a defining relationship of the 21st century between the U.S. and India.
The world’s oldest democracy, and the world’s largest democracy share many key interests, including growing our economies and ensuring stability in South Asia. In fact, the U.S.-India trade relationship amounts to nearly $100 billion annually, and Indian direct foreign investment has created more than 100,000 American jobs. I will continue to foster and encourage cooperation to see these numbers grow– that will help both our countries’ economies.
I thank Mr. Modi for his inspirational words and for the vision he laid out today. I look forward to continuing to work together to reinvigorate the U.S.- India relationship.”
Modi addressed a crowd of more than 18,000 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, before meeting with several governmental leaders on a much smaller scale.
Congressman Ami Bera M.D. represents Sacramento County. Born and raised in California, Bera is a physician and the only Indian American currently serving in Congress. He’s fighting to rebuild an economy that works for middle class families and to reduce our country’s debt in a responsible way. A proponent for strengthening United States’ strategic and trading relationship with India and Asia, Bera is a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee and is working to open Asian markets to California products to create new jobs. He and his wife Janine live in Elk Grove with their daughter Sydra. For more updates on Rep. Bera follow @RepBera on Twitter, like Congressman Bera on Facebook, or visit http://www.bera.house.gov.