WASHINGTON (AP) May 24 — US Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined ties between the world’s two largest democracies in advance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to Congress.
Some in Congress also expressed unease about India’s ties with Iran after Modi this week visited Tehran and India agreed to invest $500 million to develop a strategic port in Iran.
Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said it was essential that the U.S. and India stand together to uphold democratic values and norms in the Indo-Pacific region as China seeks to gain greater influence.
Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal, the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, said that bilateral relations have “never been stronger” but said both sides recognize “there is much more to be done.”
Biswal said some human trafficking rings have been broken up, but India needs to “advance the rule of law across all aspects of its society to insure that these kinds of conditions don’t exist, and this kind of trafficking does not exist.”