Prior to his departure, the prime minister attended a Congressional reception hosted jointly by Foreign Relation Committees (House and Senate) and India Caucus (House and Senate).
Two of the most feisty women activists on Capitol Hill, United States Senator Barbara Mikulski and US Representative Judy Chu, both Democrats representing Maryland and California, pledged at the National Federation of Indian American Association's Congressional reception that they would fight against the racial profiling of India Americans, Sikh Americans and Muslim Americans.
India can help mend the fractured relationship between United States and Pakistan, believes a ranking member of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The elaborate and lavish White House state dinner hosted for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by United States President Barack Obama in November, and the caliber of guests invited, was in part to acknowledge the extraordinary impact of Indian Americans in the US in every field of endeavour, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has said.
Congressman Steny Hoyer, the majority leader of the US House of Representatives, defended against hypocrisy charges in US' foreign policies, and claimed to be India's friend and ally.
American lawmakers, who were attending the Confederation of Indian Industry's launch of a new study on Indian investment in the United States at a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill, showered Ambassador Meera Shankar with a surfeit of kudos, much to her embarrassment.Congressman Joe Crowley, New York Democrat and co-chair of the India Caucus in the US House of Representatives, said, "Ambassador you are a rock star". He also spoke of her receiving "a rock star welcome".
In yet another sign of deepening relationship between India and the United States, the Friends of Indian Caucus in the US Senate is holding a rare Congressional reception for the new Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar.
Joe Wilson, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has exhorted India-Americans to support the deal
Talking about his reception in the US, the prime minister said, "Whenever I have come here, I have had opportunities to meet senators, Congressmen, and they always received me with a lot of affection and spoken to me very openly."
The first-ever Diwali celebrations will be held at the United States Capitol this year, with the US lawmakers announcing to hold a Congressional reception for the festival of lights.
Disappointed over Pakistan's slow pace of trial in Mumbai terror attack case, a top American lawmaker has demanded that the seven suspects, including Lashkar-e-tayiba operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, be handed over to the International Criminal Court to bring them to justice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his over four-hour visit to the US Capitol established a personal rapport with top lawmakers and seems to have won over his critics.
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