Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans

Gary Ackerman, Democratic Co-Chair of Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans

Interview by Aziz Haniffa
India Abroad
January 28, 2005

• India is a regional power. It does not need anything to establish it.
• Racial profiling is not being looked at enough and [is not] seen to be as serious a problem it is.
• We have to look at the formation of the Pakistani caucus. I'm not sure what it is all about.

United States Representative Gary Ackerman of New York, a ranking democrat on the House International Relations Committee, and considered a leading foreign policy expert on Capitol Hill, has returned as Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. He said one of his top priorities will be to constitute "a powerful advisory board" to advise the Caucus on issues of concern, first to the Indian American community and, second, to better US-India relations.

In an exclusive interview with India Abroad, Ackerman said the other priorities on his agenda would be to convince the administration to rethink its policy of providing Pakistan with many largesse, particularly in the wake of Islamabad's reticence to turn over rogue proliferator A.Q. Khan for interrogation by US officials, and to lead the charge to stall the sale of F-16s to Pakistan.

Ackerman said he was not overly concerned with the formation of the Congressional Caucus on Pakistan and Pakistani Americans, Co-Chaired by New Delhi's adversary on Capitol Hill, Congressman Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican.

But he said if the Caucus' agenda is not one that is helpful or useful but only a means to castigate India, "we will have to deal with it when issues come up."

Q. What's your take on India's rapid reaction to the tsunami, particularly the way it moved to assist Sri Lanka that was ravaged?

A. It showed the deep humanity of the Indian soul, that while [the people there] were experiencing a disaster themselves, they quickly organized [themselves] to think and be considerate of others who don't have the benefit of the great resources and great population as does India.

I thought it was a wonderful, wonderful thing to do. I wish our president [George W. Bush] had been able to think as quickly as the Indian mind and organize as well -- out of the kindness that is the American heart -- but also it would have demonstrated that America did not need to be pushed into anything and that it was going to be helpful as we are in the end anyway.

Q. Does this swift response establish India as a regional power?

A. India is a regional power. It does not need anything to establish it. It reasserts and reinforces [this] in the minds of the people who are not necessarily watching things as closely as they could to indicate what India is all about.

Q. Coming to your return as Co-Chair of the India Caucus, what prompted you to do so?

A. Well, not the pay [laughs heartily]. I am always fascinated by India. I am amazed at the integrity and activism of the Indian American community despite the fact that we have come so far. We could go so much further. I'm looking to get even greater involvement from the Indian American community. When I first assumed the Chair some years ago, after Frank [Pallone], I thought it would be a good thing not just to have the Congressional Caucus on India but [to expand its function by renaming it] the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

Q. In what way would you expand it? What specifically will be your agenda as CO-Chair?

A. I want to involve the Indian American community even more strongly. I am looking to put together a powerful advisory board so we can think [matters] through and prioritize what the issues are that are of concern, first to the community as Americans and second, to bettering relations [between the US and India]. It is a good relationship getting better all the time, but I want to make it stronger.

Q. What will be your other top priorities?

A. The other thing is the concern I have about our administration in Washington and how it views Pakistan. Some things I have heard expressed by the administration that concerns me greatly -- [such as] the activities of A.Q. Khan. How do we turn over material and things to the Pakistanis that have to do with America's security interests when Pakistan has demonstrated it does not even have control over its atomic program -- whatever it is.

My great concern is that we don't force the issue of speaking directly to, and interviewing and questioning Khan [but] rely on the Pakistanis to interview him and tell us what he said.

We don't know what they have asked him, we don't know what he said.

It is critical in this age [to know] that he has been the biggest proliferator of potential weapons, especially since he was successful in selling his program to two elements of the axis of evil [North Korea, Iran], and he tried to sell it to Iraq. We don't know where else he was dealing.

Q. Will stalling the sale of F-16s to Pakistan be a top priority for the Caucus?

A. I have said it and we have expressed our grave concerns to the administration. We are seeking answers. We don't know how the administration intends to do this without ameliorating the concerns they have [about Pakistan].

They cannot be living in a bubble. They have to have the same concerns some of us have expressed to them, but they have not come up with the answers. That will be very high on my agenda.

Q. How about pushing for US support for some kind of endorsement of India's bid to be a permanent member of the United States Security Council?

A. We have to take a look at that and the time is nigh. As we look at the structure of the U.N. -- and part of that structure is arcane, shall we say, and perhaps needs a general look at -- and if it is time to expand the Security Council in some way either by directly adding permanent members or some other creative [method], then, certainly, India should be at the top of the list.

Q. How about domestic issues of concern to Indian Americans, like racial profiling, hate crimes, and of course immigration? There are those who say the Caucus is obsessed with foreign policy -- as these are sexy issues -- to the detriment of addressing domestic concerns that Indian Americans, including those that second-generation Indian Americans, would like Congress to look at.

A. Right. That is what I was hinting at before, when I mentioned adding a high-powered advisory board and that it was my initiative that said it was the Caucus not just on India but on Indian Americans.

That is one of the things that demand looking at -- racial profiling of people. What is being done, whether or not enough attention is being paid to that by officialdom in this country.

My view, right off the top, is that it is not being looked at enough and [seen to be] as serious a problem as it is. We got an inkling of that after September 11.

People took Indians who don't have the profile of people from the Arab world that they were looking for, and heaped abuse upon them. It shows that there is ignorance out there that has to be dealt with. We all have a lot of work to do -- you know, the Caucus does, the Indian American community does. The time is upon us to do that.

Q. As a founding member of the Caucus, a criticism levied against the founding hierarchy is that you and some other members constantly talk proudly about the number of members in the Caucus -- that it is the largest caucus in Congress. But, in real tangible terms, the Caucus has hardly achieved anything of substance or significance. Is there any India Caucus-driven legislation, which you hope to introduce or which is in the works, that will result in a law that will benefit the Indian American community or help US-India relations -- like an upsurge in trade, instead of such legislation always getting stuck on first base?

A. That is one of the things we have to look at. But the Caucus has been very, very successful. Before its advent -- when I took over the Chair [the last time] -- we used to lose all the battles on the floor to the India bashers in the House who would put up things either of substance or no real significance but [definitely] of propaganda value, who would bash India or take money away claiming this, that and the other thing.

It was only [later] that we became successful in stopping those kinds of things, to the extent they are not even introduced these days. They have kind of given up on that for the most part, but we have to be diligent that we are there to answer it and do what we have to do.

We have to look at the formation of the Pakistani caucus. I'm not sure what it is all about. There are some people that are in the Pakistani Caucus who, for some reason, remain in the India caucus. But, you know, we don't police that.

All Congressional caucuses can be joined by anybody in Congress. I'm not sure what the agenda is over there. If it's helpful or a useful agenda, we will appreciate it. If it is not, we will have to deal with it when issues come up. If it is to have a better understanding of US-Pakistan relations, I am all for that, as we should be looking to better that. Everybody is looking to better relations with everybody else.