Bob Menendez: “Next week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the United States for the first time since his historic…”

“Next week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the United States for the first time since his historic election victory. The U.S. and India are natural partners with shared values and common interests, yet we are far from realizing the full potential of our relationship to the mutual benefit of both of our countries. On behalf of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and thousands of Indian-American constituents across New Jersey, I welcome the Prime Minister to the United States and am confident that his visit will re-invigorate and refocus our partnership so that concrete progress can be made in a host of sectors. India's new government has won a historic mandate to deliver change and reform, and we should be ready to support India's efforts to meet challenges--through concrete measures to bolster trade and investment, strengthen defense cooperation, and deepen our security partnership. The U.S. and India are engaged in a comprehensive set of diplomatic dialogue and working groups--currently there are dozens such groups covering a wide range of issues in the areas of economics, security, climate change, and education. This is a relationship that does not suffer from a lack of dialogue. It has, however, unfortunately suffered from a lack of results, especially since the civilian nuclear framework was agreed to in 2005. With a strong push from the Prime Minister, President Obama and the U.S.…”