U.S. Senate India Caucus

John Cornyn, Senator Who Made the Difference

Press Release
April 23, 2004

The promise was made on Sept. 17, 2002, at the annual awards banquet of the Greater Dallas Indo-American Chamber of Commerce Texas.

There, in front of more than 600 people among whom were the movers and shakers in the community, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn spoke in eloquent terms about how proud and fascinated he was by the achievements and contributions of the Indian-American community. Then, he turned to A.K. Mago, his longtime friend and founder of the chamber, sand said, "AK, one day I will make a journey to this wonderful land of yours."

Like a true Texan, Cornyn kept his promise. In early January of this year, Cornyn, now a U.S. Senator, spent nine days in India. He was accompanied on this trip by his wife Sandy, foreign policy advisor Matt Winslow, AK Mago, Chairman of the Indian Chamber C.C Theophine. AK Mago is also the chairman of Business Marketing and Concessions committee of DFW International Airport Board.

This introduction is outlined here because of what was to come later on.

In India, Cornyn met with business and political leaders. He encouraged India’s minister of civil aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudy to establish a link between the D-FW airport and Air India, India’s flag carrier, to serve the ever growing Indian-American community in Texas and to increase the overall air traffic between Dallas Fort Worth and India.

Right from the beginning, Cornyn and A.K Mago had been discussing ways to strengthen relations between the United States and India based on their democratic traditions.

This point is important because Cornyn always has been committed to the vision of the United States doing everything it can to promote strong ties with powerful and growing democracies in Asia like India. The new war against global terrorism has only helped reinforce this conviction in him.

This is the background which, along with numerous developments in the interim, that helped Mago to convince Cornyn to take the leadership role in the U.S. Senate to set up a caucus among leading senators who would then closely focus on issues between the two strongest and largest democracies.

Such a body would no longer be bound by the shibboleths of past prejudices and predetermined solution packages. It would examine each issue only its merit and on the basis of sovereign equality. Recognition would always be given to the fact India has come a long way in becoming a major economic and military player on the world stage.

This is the genesis of the founding of the history-making "Friends of India" caucus, the first such country-specific body in the powerful Senate. For India, this is a major victory for there is already a similar body in the U.S. House of Representatives with nearly 170 members.

For Mago, a successful Dallas businessman with numerous civic and social affiliations, this was his crowning achievement. The effort to form a Senate India caucus has been on the burner for several years, but with a single stroke Mago achieved it because of strong support he got from Senator Cornyn.

During his India trip, Senator Cornyn had a chance meeting with about a dozen members of the House India caucus who also were visiting the South Asian nation at the same time.

On his return from India, Senator Cornyn talked to a number of his colleagues in the Senate to join him in the bipartisan "Friends of India" Caucus.

The response was overwhelming. Among those who wanted to join the group was Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who even agreed to be the body’s co-chair.

Matt Winslow, Senator Cornyn’s foreign policy advisor, began coordinating with every senator’s office. There was not much convincing to do as each Senator realized the importance of this body in improving Indo-U.S. relations.

Mago also convinced Kay Bailey Hutchison, the other popular and powerful Senator from Texas, to the caucus.

Senator Hutchison also had been planning to travel to India but has had to delay it because of her two small children.

On March 30, Senator Cornyn at the request of Mago accepted to be a speaker at the American Association of the Physicians of Indian Origin.

The meeting included India’s Ambassador to the U.S. Lalit Mansingh. In his remarks, Senator Cornyn could not contain his enthusiasm to announce the formation of the Senate India caucus; although it’s official announcement was weeks away.

The reason for that was the Senator wanted to give the news as a parting gift to the outgoing Mansingh, who had been working tirelessly with the American Indian community for setting up the caucus.

The formation of the caucus with 25 percent of the Senate is not only recognition of the contribution by the Indian-American community, but also a fitting tribute to the leadership of Senator Cornyn in reshaping America’s foreign policy. For the Indians, the Senator’s help is invaluable.