Chuck Schumer Leads Senate Delegation To India, Meets With Modi
NEW DELHI – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20 here, said he was, “honored to lead the largest and most senior Senate delegation to India ever to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is only my second CODEL as a senator and my first as majority leader. I made India my first CODEL as majority leader to show my commitment to the important U.S.-India relationship.”
“We need nations such as India, the world’s largest democracy, to work with us to strengthen democracies in Asia and around the globe,” he said, adding, “In our meeting with Prime Minister Modi, we stressed that close ties between our two countries would be a crucial counterweight to outcompete China and responding to its authoritarianism.”
Schumer has been accompanied by fellow Democratic Senators Ron Wyden (OR), Amy Klobuchar (MN), Mark Warner (VA), and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV). Schumer met with Modi to discuss what he said was, “the growing U.S.-India relationship and the common interests that unite the two largest democracies in the world.”
The majority leader said the discussions with Modi were, “substantive and productive conversation lasting an hour about strengthening our cooperation on our shared strategic interests including outcompeting China, combatting climate change, increasing trade, and deepening ties between our two countries. I strongly believe a robust U.S.-India relationship will be the cornerstone for stability in the Indo-Pacific region for the 21st century.”
“We also discussed with both Prime Minister Modi and the US Embassy the strong desire of our delegation to see our immigration laws for Indian Americans improved. It is in our mutual interest for more Indians to be able to immigrate to America, which will bolster our economy on several levels. For example, being sent home 60 days after losing a job in tech and other industries is unfair for Indian Americans and bad for America.”
