US Congressional delegation to attend PM Modi’s Red Fort address on Independence Day

Washington: US Congressmen, Ro Khanna and Michael Waltz, who are also co-chairs of the House India caucus will lead a bipartisan Congressional Member Delegation to India and will also attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address from Red Fort on Independence Day.

Both US lawmakers will visit Red Fort where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address India on August 15, India’s Independence Day. They will meet with business, tech, government, and Bollywood leaders in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and New Delhi and visit Raj Ghat, a historic memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.

Khanna and Waltz co-chair the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. The caucus is a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers committed to strengthening the relationship between the United States and India.

Congressmen Khanna and Waltz will be joined by Reps Deborah Ross (NC-D), Kat Cammack (FL-R), Shri Thanedar (MI-D), and Jasmine Crockett (TX-D) as well as fellow Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans members Reps. Rich McCormick (GA-R) and Ed Case (HI-D) in New Delhi.

For Khanna, the US representative from California since 2017, this is a history coming full circle. His grandfather Amarnath Vidyalankar was an Indian freedom fighter who spent four years in jail alongside Mahatma Gandhi and later was part of India’s first parliament.

“As co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, we are proud to lead a bipartisan delegation to India. We will be there to discuss how to strengthen economic and defence ties between our two counties, the oldest and largest democracies. Both of us believe that the US, India relationship will be a defining one of the 21st century. India is a key partner in ensuring multipolarity in Asia and the denial of China as a hegemon. We must continue to strive to make progress and build our partnership based on our shared founding values of democracy, freedom of the press and assembly, and human rights. This delegation is a historic opportunity to drive further collaboration and advance shared aims,” they said.

Earlier this year, Khanna and Waltz hosted a historic US-India Summit on the Hill featuring panels and remarks from government leaders, experts, and Indian American leaders from across the country.