[House Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE U.S. REBALANCE IN SOUTH ASIA:
FOREIGN AID AND DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MARCH 24, 2015
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Serial No. 114-29
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
RON DeSANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin
DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
TOM EMMER, Minnesota
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
MATT SALMON, Arizona Chairman
DANA ROHRABACHER, California BRAD SHERMAN, California
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio AMI BERA, California
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania GRACE MENG, New York
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of
South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State...... 7
The Honorable Jonathan Stivers, Assistant Administrator, Bureau
for Asia, U.S. Agency for International Development............ 26
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Nisha Desai Biswal: Prepared statement............. 10
The Honorable Jonathan Stivers: Prepared statement............... 28
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 46
Hearing minutes.................................................. 47
The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress
from the Commonwealth of Virginia:
Material submitted for the record.............................. 48
Prepared statement............................................. 49
THE U.S. REBALANCE IN SOUTH ASIA:
FOREIGN AID AND DEVELOPMENT
PRIORITIES
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TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11 o'clock a.m.,
in room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Matt Salmon
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Salmon. Good morning. The subcommittee will come to
order. I would like to thank our distinguished witnesses,
Assistant Secretary Nisha Biswal and Assistant Administrator
Jonathan Stivers for coming here this morning. Thank you very
much.
This hearing was called to assess the Fiscal Year 2016
State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development
budget requests for the South Asia region. Today I would like
to focus on how U.S. funds support the health of South Asia's
democratic institutions, the strength of economic development
in the region, and the management of the latent security
concerns.
The relationship between the United States and countries in
South Asia concerning those issues is very ripe for
cooperation. Robust relations with South Asian countries would
significantly bolster our rebalance to Asia. However, the
region also faces some significant economic, security and human
rights challenges.
To start, Bangladesh continues to face severe political
challenges with in-fighting between Bangladesh National Party
and the Awami League which has begun to impede on development
and citizens' livelihoods. India must address development
challenges for a significant part of its population with over
300 million Indians still living without electricity.
During our trip to India, the Prime Minister was noted for
saying let us build toilets instead of temples, showing what a
serious development it is in that region of the world. There is
about a quarter of the Indian population that don't have
electricity. The Maldives is increasingly a hub for foreign
fighters and religious extremism, yet the issue goes unnoticed.
The United States uses limited resources to assist South
Asian nations, facilitating their democratic infrastructure and
economic development. Despite the region's shifting
geopolitical landscape, increasingly complex security outlook,
lingering human rights issues and enduring obstacles in
development, U.S. foreign assistance in South Asia has actually
fallen by 48 percent, from $2.2 billion to $1.1 billion not
including food aid between Fiscal Year 2012 and the requested
budget for 2016. I implore our distinguished witnesses to
explain whether the United States is doing enough and whether
our limited funding to the region could be better utilized.
The administration requested $168 million for assistance in
Bangladesh in Fiscal Year 2015 and the request for Fiscal Year
2016 is $172 million, an almost 2.5 percent increase. The vast
majority of our aid dollars go to Bangladesh yet we see little
improvement in living and working conditions, especially in the
provision of social services. I worry that the instability
caused from the rivalry between the two major political parties
has disrupted our aid efforts. I hope that Assistant Secretary
Biswal and Assistant Administrator Stivers will be able to
explain how our contributions would be best used in Bangladesh.
India is a country of vast opportunity for collaboration on
development, trade and defense. It is the world's largest
democracy and it is indeed an increasingly important partner in
maintaining regional peace and stability.
I visited, as I mentioned, India earlier this month and I
was really, really impressed with many of the reforms that are
being spoken of by the Prime Minister, and I am very hopeful
that things in India will significantly improve and it will be
a much more robust economy. Of course they have to have a lot
larger growth rate to accommodate the, what is it, about 1
million new jobs a month? Pretty significant. I look forward to
staying extremely engaged with India as the country continues
to pursue their aggressive agenda of economic and
infrastructure development.
I am concerned however about the treatment of women and
minorities. In particular I am concerned that the government
has been suppressing discourse about women's rights. The Indian
Government was reported to have censored a BBC documentary
about the gang rape of a 23-year-old Delhi woman. It is
particularly disturbing to our principles of free speech and
women's rights. I would like to know whether our administration
has brought this up with the Indian Government. That was quite
a topic of conversation while we were there. I believe it was
called ``India's Daughter.''
There is not enough attention paid to the Maldives, a
democratic nation of many small islands but one that sits in
the middle of key shipping lanes in the region. While maritime
traffic flows past the Maldivian islands, maritime security is
of major concern due to political threats posed by narcotics
trafficking, piracy in the Indian Ocean and potential seaborne
terrorist activity.
Further reports of growing extremism greatly concern me.
Why are the Maldive's serving as a hub for the recruitment of
religious extremists? How are we addressing these grave
concerns to our international stability and our national
security?
The newly elected Sri Lankan President Sirisena recently
stated he will revisit deals signed with China by his
predecessor President Rajapaksa. With increased trade and
investment between the two countries, Sri Lanka risks being
wooed by China through major investment and infrastructure
construction initiatives. I would like to know what we can do
to ensure that Sri Lanka does not become dependent on China for
development and what we can do to assist the new government in
addressing domestic, economic and development challenges. The
requested budget must focus on promoting more democratic and
accountable governance, promoting sustainable economic
development and opportunities for trade and commerce in the
region.
Other countries, Bhutan and Nepal, are also extremely
important to our efforts in South Asia and I hope today's
witnesses will be able to address them as well. I look forward
to hearing from our distinguished witnesses this afternoon, and
I now yield to Mr. Sherman, the ranking member of the
subcommittee, for his opening remarks.
Mr. Sherman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is entirely
appropriate that we have these hearings focusing on an area
with almost 2 billion people and an area in where almost half
those people are under 25.
Our witnesses focus on all of the countries of South Asia
with the--what should we say--shared jurisdiction with regard
to Pakistan, and I know our subcommittee includes all of South
Asia. There are special both aid and diplomatic authorities to
deal with Pakistan and Afghanistan and maybe we would hold
joint hearings looking at those two countries together. Maybe
next year we will make your Pakistan/Afghanistan counterparts
do double duty and come before us as well as the other
subcommittee.
As to India, I think it will go down in world history to
have an election in which 553 million people cast ballots as
occurred in April and May of last year. India is one of our
most important strategic and geopolitical partners, many
important issues face the country, and I look forward to
hearing from our witnesses.
As to economic relations, Ms. Biswal, you have testified
before, before our subcommittee, about the importance of
negotiating a bilateral investment treaty between our country.
In joint statements that have come out, President Obama's visit
to India in January, there is further talk of this treaty.
Now, right now our trade is about $100 billion in goods and
services and we are already running a $30-billion trade
deficit, 30 percent. I am interested in how the administration
isn't just going to have more trade but more balanced trade.
Very executive agencies of our Government have occasionally
testified that if you could increase American trade by having
$1 billion of new exports and $2 billion of new imports that
that was wonderful. Three billion dollars in trade. The fact
is, unbalanced trade means we lose jobs, and I join the Vice
President in a goal of $500 billion of bilateral trade, 250 and
250.
One element of this is the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation
agreement. When we voted in favor of that we were told that
India would open up its market to U.S. companies by making the
necessary changes in its liability laws. To date I am not sure
they have done that and I look forward to hearing from our
witnesses. I would hate to think that we voted for that
agreement believing certain things that didn't turn out to be
true and then we are being given another agreement to vote on.
As to Bangladesh, the democratic process is weak. One third
of the people live in extreme poverty. The two matriarchs fight
over power. One of the dominant parties boycotted the elections
altogether, and I look forward to you solving that problem
easily in the next few months.
And of course when we focus on Bangladesh we need to focus
on labor and working conditions. So many of us see their
products in our stores. I know that there is some progress,
some 200 labor unions have been established, a number of unsafe
factories have been closed down. But then 2 weeks ago a roof
collapses on another Bangladeshi factory and we are left with
many dead and injured.
As to Sri Lanka we saw a real test of a democracy. And the
greatest test of a democracy is when one party is voted out,
another party is voted in, the party that is voted in actually
takes power. The new President's soon to be empowered
Parliament have to resolve a lot of human rights issues growing
out of the 26-year-long civil war.
I understand our 2016 budget was drawn up before the
surprise elections. Now hopefully we will be able to help the
new President with truth and reconciliation, and the new
government of course faces the possibility of nonconstitutional
attack from both the former President but more importantly
perhaps the former President's brother, former Defense Minister
who was implicated in certain unwarranted and tragic instances
at the end of the civil war.
So I see that the new President is open to trials taking
place in Sri Lanka, and they might do more to heal the country
than the trials taking place at the International Criminal
Court or some other far-off land. I have got wonderful
paragraphs written by a brilliant staff about Nepal, but my
time has expired and I yield back.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Mr. Connolly, did you have an opening statement?
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to welcome both of our witnesses. And I think, Mr.
Stivers, this is your first. This is your debut on that side of
the table so we have to be gentle.
And Ms. Biswal, let the record show you represent our
Government. There seemed to be some confusion about that in the
past. It is great to have you both here.
One of the things I hope we get a chance to hear from you
is, I am interested in efficacy of foreign economic, of our
economic assistance. We have been in South Asia a long time,
and to what extent can we correlate the investments we have
made over the decades with metrics that matter like GDP, the
rise out of poverty, infant mortality or survivability, food
production, job growth and the like, or is it just an
incidental that has helped make things better marginally?
I think that is critical to this question, because how does
aid play a role in our foreign policy in this corner of the
world, especially the title of our hearing is The U.S.
Rebalance in South Asia? Well, is economic assistance a
critical tool as part of that rebalancing? What is that
rebalancing? What is the role that aid is going to play and how
does it make people's lives better? And how do the recipients
of this investment by the U.S. taxpayer know about it? Do they
make the connection that their lives are improving because of
this investment the American people have made?
And I would be very interested in that because we have been
at this game a long time, and I do believe that actually there
are such metrics but I don't think we always do as good a job
in the narrative as we should which affects support here for
those investments. And if we are going to sustain them and
maybe even build upon them, I think we have to have a
compelling narrative and we have got to have metrics that are
compelling as well.
So I look forward to your testimony in setting that
context. And I am going to be in an out because I have another
hearing as well, but I will be following what you say. At any
rate, thank you, and Mr. Chairman, thank you for the time.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Ms. Meng, did you have a statement?
Ms. Meng. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Sherman. Good morning and welcome, Assistant Secretary Biswal,
and a special welcome to Assistant Administrator Jonathan
Stivers. I am pleased to have this opportunity to explore the
importance of South Asia and the President's budget and the
rebalance to Asia.
My district in Queens, New York, is home to a vibrant South
Asian community with residents from all over the subcontinent,
but especially India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In fact,
the U.S. is home to well over 3.4 million South Asian-
Americans, and this rapidly growing population has only aided
in improving ties between the U.S. and the region.
The increase in bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and
India, the latest anti-corruption and unifying policies of the
new President of Sri Lanka, these are points to celebrate. But
right now what I find most urgent is the continuing violence in
Bangladesh. I will come back to this point when we have time
for questions later in the hearing.
Thank you, I yield back.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Mr. Bera, did you have some comments?
Mr. Bera. I will share my quick opening statement. I had,
one, it is great to see both of you here, and as my colleague
from Virginia said, we will take it easy on you, Mr. Stivers,
today.
I had the privilege of going with Chairman Salmon to India
a few weeks ago on a trip led by the chairman of the full
committee Mr. Royce. And this is on the heels of the
President's visit to India in January. So there is a general
sense of optimism and the potential here, but there is also,
obviously there are challenges as well.
We had a chance to visit with the Prime Minister again and
many of his cabinet members, so from the Prime Minister's
agenda our sense is he clearly does want to see this
partnership grow. And you have seen some positive pieces of
legislation like the raising of the FDI caps on insurance that
really can have a tremendous benefit to allowing foreign
investment to flow into India to help the Prime Minister reach
his pretty ambitious goals.
Also when we were on the ground in New Delhi we were able
to see some of USAID's work firsthand visiting the Vivekananda
Slums and looking at some of the work that they are doing on
the ground to address issues of sanitation, clean water,
empowering local communities, and really talking to the staff
on the ground and talking to some of the folks within the
Indian administration.
You are moving India from being a donor recipient country
to a country that is actually then going into places like
Afghanistan, going into some of the countries in Africa and
becoming a donor nation as well and helping that development.
And I think that is a real success story for USAID to help
India develop its own capacity to be a donor nation.
So I look forward to the testimony, and again look forward
to continuing this momentum on the U.S.-India partnership.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Ms. Gabbard, did you have some comments?
Ms. Gabbard. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very briefly.
Welcome back and welcome, good to see you both here. As we
look toward this focus in rebalance toward the Asia Pacific it
is impossible to talk about this without talking about South
Asia, so this focus of the hearing today is so critical.
As we look around the world at different hotspots and
different areas of concern and emerging and growing threats, I
think the relative stability overall that we see in the region,
I think, comes from the fact that there is this proactive
engagement from a strategic sense, from a cultural sense as
well as an economic sense, and I think that is connecting each
of these three things.
Connecting our people, our businesses, our militaries is
what is critical for us as we look at moving forward and really
building this strong partnership. Obviously the India-U.S.
relationship and really growing friendship is one of the most
important elements of this, so I look forward to hearing from
you today. Thank you.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you. And before I introduce the panelists
I would like to acknowledge the Ambassador from Bangladesh
Mohammad Ziauddin, wonderful to have you here today, sir.
I would like to introduce our two distinguished panelists.
First of all, Assistant Secretary Bureau of South and Central
Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal was sworn in as Assistant Secretary
of State for South and Central Asian Affairs on October 21st,
2013. Prior to this she served from September 2010 as Assistant
Administrator for Asia at USAID where she oversaw $1.2 billion
in assistance to 22 countries from Central Asia to the Pacific
Islands and managed a bureau and overseas staff of over 1,200
development professionals.
She has served as the majority clerk for the House
Appropriations Committee Foreign Operations Subcommittee and
professional staff in the House Foreign Affairs Committee where
she was responsible for South Asia. So it is wonderful to have
you.
And that is what the threat of commonality is because our
next panelist Jonathan Stivers currently serves as the USAID
Assistant Administrator of the Asia Bureau and oversees a
budget of over $1.8 billion in assistance to 32 countries in
South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific Islands and
manages a bureau and overseas staff of approximately 1,200
development professionals, and prior to that he served as
senior advisor to the Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
And we are just thrilled to have you both on that side of
the table today and very interested in everything that you have
to say. And we will start with you, Ms. Biswal.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE NISHA DESAI BISWAL, ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ms. Biswal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member Sherman, members of the subcommittee, thank you for
inviting me to testify today. I appreciate the very important
role that this committee plays in shaping U.S. policy. Before I
begin I ask that my full statement be entered into the record
and I will summarize my comments.
Mr. Salmon. Without objection.
Ms. Biswal. Thank you.
I am especially thrilled to be here with my good friend and
colleague and fellow House staff alumnus Jon Stivers. I am also
very pleased, Mr. Chairman, that you have chosen to frame
today's hearing as the U.S. Rebalance to South Asia.
President Obama has clearly stated why our strategic
interests in the Indo-Pacific are so clear and compelling. As
the world's fastest growing region, the coming decades will
increasingly show that America's security and prosperity will
be linked to that of Asia.
Mr. Chairman, in your district alone demand from Asia
supports 34 percent of export-related jobs and accounts for 30
percent of total exports, worth over $\1/2\ billion per year.
And South Asia, with nearly 2 billion people, an
entrepreneurial culture, and a resurgent Indian economy at its
center, will play a large role in shaping the Asian narrative
in the decades to come.
But in order for the region to achieve its potential,
countries must grapple with the myriad challenges that impede
progress. Democratic governance is fragile in a number of
countries and must be strengthened. Burgeoning youth
populations, increasing urbanization, and environmental
stresses must be addressed to create sustainable and inclusive
economic growth.
The President's budget request for South Asia, at just over
$383 million, enables us to partner with governments,
businesses, civil society and security forces to address
challenges and to unlock opportunities for the region's people
and for the American people.
While my testimony does not cover Afghanistan and Pakistan,
I do oversee the broad areas of regional cooperation and
connectivity between those two countries and the rest of South
and Central Asia. And while South Asia boasts some of the
world's fastest growing economies, regionally it is one of the
least economically integrated, so our regional initiatives are
focused on helping connect the countries of South Asia not just
to each other but also to Central Asia, through our New Silk
Road initiative, and to Southeast Asia, through the Indo-
Pacific Economic Corridor. We work to promote the virtuous
networks of trade and commerce, but we also work to inhibit the
vicious networks of violence and crime, of terrorism and
narcotics and human trafficking.
Mr. Chairman, the primary economic engine in South Asia is
India, where our bilateral relationship is stronger than ever.
President Obama's historic visit during Republic Day was a
great success, not only because of the symbolism of being the
first U.S. President invited to be India's chief guest on
Republic Day, but also for the very substantial outcomes that
his interactions with Prime Minister Modi produced in four key
areas--advancing our strategic partnership to address common
goals, enhancing our security cooperation, deepening our
economic ties, and increasing cooperation on clean energy and
climate goals. These specific outcomes are elaborated in my
written testimony, but we are very focused now on
implementation and operationalization of these outcomes.
The political transition in Sri Lanka, as you mentioned,
Mr. Chairman, has also opened up new possibilities in that
bilateral relationship. We strongly support the new
government's focus on strengthening the country's democratic
institutions, rebuilding its economy, and pursuing meaningful
and lasting reconciliation.
In Bangladesh, we see the potential for a modern,
prosperous, strong and inclusive country. As the world's top
contributor of peacekeeping forces, it is bringing stability to
countries around the globe. And our assistance programs there
have yielded some of the best returns on investment, addressing
some of the points, Mr. Chairman, that you raised and that Mr.
Connolly raised about the efficacy of U.S. assistance. Yet the
political stalemate and continuing violence in Dhaka have taken
a real toll on the people and the economy. We have underscored
to opposition parties the need to curb violent protest while at
the same time we have strongly urged the government to provide
space for peaceful protest, to expand press freedoms, and to
create an inclusive political process.
With respect to labor, nearly 2 years after the collapse of
Rana Plaza, Bangladesh has made important progress on labor
safety, especially in the number of inspectors trained and
buildings inspected. But for all the progress that we have
seen, we have not seen the lasting change in attitudes,
enforcement, and incentives that will bring Bangladesh in line
with international labor standards, so that work continues.
Mr. Chairman, in Nepal, after decades of conflict and
insurgency, the country is on the cusp of creating an inclusive
constitution that guarantees fundamental rights to all of its
people--if all sides can compromise to support a consensus
based approach. We are supporting that democratic transition
and its economic development while also partnering on security
cooperation focused on strengthening Nepal's significant
contribution to U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Lastly, Mr. Chairman, the two smallest democracies,
Maldives and Bhutan. As you noted, in Maldives we have an
important but small program focused on counter terrorism and
violent extremism, as well as on climate change, and the
bilateral relationship had been on a positive glide path.
However, we are deeply concerned about recent events, including
last week's conviction and sentencing of former President
Nasheed. Bhutan is a country with which we have very warm ties,
and we seek new ways to support that government's very strong
commitment to preserving its environment through regional
programs focused on clean energy and biodiversity.
Let me conclude, Mr. Chairman, by reiterating that the
security and the prosperity of the United States increasingly
will be tied to the security and prosperity of Asia. The United
States can and must play a leading role in shaping and
supporting that region's stability and growth in the decades to
come. Thank you Mr. Chairman, I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Biswal follows:]
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Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Mr. Stivers?
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JONATHAN STIVERS, ASSISTANT
ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR ASIA, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Stivers. Chairman Salmon, Ranking Member Sherman, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify today on advancing our foreign policy
goals in South Asia. Before I begin I would like to request
that my full statement be entered in the record.
Mr. Salmon. Without objection.
Mr. Stivers. Having worked in the House of Representatives
for the past 18 years, it is a real honor to be here especially
alongside my friend and colleague Assistant Secretary Nisha
Biswal.
Through the President's budget request of $383 million for
South Asia, we will continue our efforts as responsible
stewards of taxpayer dollars to end extreme poverty and promote
resilient democratic societies while advancing our own security
and prosperity.
USAID expands stable, free societies that provide lasting
alternatives to otherwise destabilizing forces. At the same
time we create new markets and trade partners, promote
democratic values and foster goodwill abroad all with less than
1 percent of the Federal budget.
Our approach at USAID is threefold. First, we are
institutionalizing USAID's new model of development which
leverages public-private partnerships, local solutions, science
and innovation to do more with less. In the past 5 years USAID
has made great strides, going from just 8 percent of resources
programmed through this new model to 40 percent.
While my responsibilities do not include Afghanistan and
Pakistan, we are focused on building regional solutions to
increase stability and economic integration including expanded
regional connectivity between South and Central Asia and
Afghanistan and Pakistan especially in the areas of trade and
energy.
Second, we are building pathways out of poverty through the
Global Health Initiative, Feed the Future, and the Global
Climate Change Initiative. USAID is working to improve health
systems and outcomes, increased food security, and help
communities adapt to, mitigate and manage the risks of a
changing environment.
And third, we are promoting democratic governance and
empowering reformers because we know that government by the
people offers the best chance for freedom and prosperity.
Fighting poverty is often less a question of funding but in
effectively addressing the underlying governance challenges
that hold countries back from realizing their full potential,
and a strong and vibrant civil society is central to any
healthy democracy.
In India, renewed commitments by President Obama and Prime
Minister Modi have given weight to new momentum and heightened
engagement. It is a new day on our bilateral relationship, but
it has already been a new day in how we administer our
assistance in India. We have transformed our partnership with
India from a donor-recipient relationship to a peer-to-peer
partnership that harnesses the strengths and capabilities of
both countries to jointly tackle development challenges. We are
leveraging more resources than ever from Indian partners while
also drawing on American private sector expertise.
Today is World TB Day and USAID is combating the spread of
TB with state-of-the-art technology from California that is
really a gamechanger in the fight against multidrug resistant
tuberculosis globally. USAID is collaborating with American and
Indian partners including the Gates Foundation to provide clean
water and sanitation services to low income populations in
India's largest urban centers. And we are also deepening our
engagement with partners to support women's empowerment in
combating gender violence.
Last, we continue our efforts with the Indian Government to
support the Tibetan refugee community which really represents
the best of our shared values with India.
In Bangladesh, despite the difficult political situation,
we have made tremendous progress on economic development
including maternal and child health, food security,
agricultural production and protecting the environment. We
continue to focus on improving labor conditions including
workplace safety and the capacity of labor organizations.
In Nepal we are tackling the roots of poverty such as poor
governance and the recurrent shocks both economic and physical
that perpetuate its cycle. USAID has helped Nepal cut its
poverty rate by 25 percent in recent years and provided funding
to help the Election Commission and the challenge of human
trafficking. Nepal is extremely vulnerable to climate change
and natural disasters and we are helping address food
shortages, vulnerability and natural resource degradation.
In Sri Lanka the country is entering a new chapter
following the recent historic election. The new government has
asked the United States for help in restoring and strengthening
its neglected democratic institutions and processes. However,
since the budget request was completed prior to the election,
USAID is exploring sources of additional support in order to
seize on this unprecedented opening. We will continue engaging
with you and your staff so we can chart the way forward
together.
Finally, in the Maldives our assistance will continue to
mitigate the impacts of climate change on the economy and the
way of life.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, members of the committee,
in today's interconnected world South Asia's future is ever
more important to our own. I appreciate the opportunity to
testify today and I look forward to your counsel and questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Stivers follows:]
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Mr. Salmon. Thank you. Time for our questions. I would like
to direct my first question to Ms. Biswal. When we were on the
codel a couple weeks ago to India, the potential of a bilateral
investment treaty was one that dominated a lot of our
conversations with the Prime Minister himself, some of his
cabinet members as well as some of our American business folks
over there.
What are the prospects for that? What is the time frame?
What are the impediments and how do we move past it? And along
that same line, one of the other issues that came up was
President Modi's ``Made in India'' campaign and how it
potentially disadvantages U.S. businesses that want to invest
in India. And I have heard of some American companies such as
Amazon who have been unfairly disadvantaged in getting market
access in the country. Are we looking into any arbitration
options or alternatives for the region?
And then my last question is also kind of economically
related. It is both economically and environmentally related.
But we were told while we were in Delhi that it is the most
polluted city in the world surpassing even Beijing. And I am
wondering, is there any strong ideas about exporting our
abundant LNG here from our country potentially to India both as
a way of helping them economically and getting good clean
energy to deal with both their economic growth needs as well as
their environmental and our environmental concerns with them?
So could you address those three issues for me.
Ms. Biswal. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you noted and
as Ranking Member Sherman noted in your opening comments and in
your question, the economic partnership with India is a very
important one and we are very much interested in seeing India's
economic rise and being a partner to India in that.
American companies bring cutting-edge technology and best
practices and are highly sought after in terms of investment
and partnership in India. But they face certain impediments,
and the focus on the bilateral investment treaty has long been
as a mechanism to create the kind of enabling environment that
provides the framework for greater ease of investing in and
doing business in India.
And with India having now concluded its own Model BIT
framework, we are poised to be able to engage with the Indians
and commence in negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty.
There are ongoing conversations between the U.S. Trade
Representative's office, the Department of State, and our
Indian counterparts on launching into BIT negotiations. We want
to make sure that any bilateral investment treaty is very high
quality and high standard and reflects the expectations of our
companies and the best practices that we have gleaned from our
engagements around the world. We believe that that will clear
the path for greater ease of dispute resolution, addressing
issues of taxation and other things that impede investment in
India.
You made reference to challenges faced by companies like
Amazon, and I know that with respect to things like e-commerce
that this is in a developing field within India in terms of how
to deal with the issues of Internet commerce and the tax
implications. There is a pending case with respect to Amazon,
but there is also a movement toward creating a standardized
goods and services tax in India that can, I think, potentially
create the broader framework for companies like Amazon on how
things like e-commerce will be governed in terms of taxation.
So we look forward to seeing forward progress on the GST and
see how that can address this. I know that Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley has opined on this issue as well, and the need to
be able to create greater dependability and predictability with
respect to the taxation issues.
And finally, with respect to what we can do to support
India's efforts to address pollution and air quality issues,
LNG is certainly one area where in fact the first export
licenses for American LNG were issued to a company that was
exporting to India, and so we certainly see that as a
particular avenue.
We are also working across the board in other ways to
address issues of environment and air quality. India has said
that it is going to issue a uniform air quality index,
measurement index. We have agreed in our climate and energy
Memorandum of Understanding, that was agreed to during the
President's visit, on creating an air quality working group to
look at these issues and explore how we can partner, how we can
work together. We also talked about addressing issues of
emissions from heavy vehicles and other ways to reduce air
pollution.
So we look forward to bringing the kind of technical
expertise and know-how, as well as the technology that American
companies bring, to addressing these kinds of challenges.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Mr. Sherman?
Mr. Sherman. Thank you. I just want to first focus on the
budget. You are asking for $383 million. Does that cover both
diplomacy and aid, and does that cover all of South Asia or
South Asia without Pakistan?
Ms. Biswal. So the $383 million is the assistance budget.
It includes the USAID development assistance programs and it
also includes the security assistance programs and other
assistance programs managed by the Department of State. It does
not include the overall diplomatic operations and engagements
that support our diplomatic engagement in the region.
Mr. Sherman. And it does not include Pakistan?
Ms. Biswal. And it does not include Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
Mr. Sherman. And how much, excluding Pakistan in this
discussion, do we then spend on diplomacy in the area? And I
realize that would just be on the Embassies in-country.
Obviously you don't have a cost accountant going through Foggy
Bottom.
Ms. Biswal. I don't have that number at the top of my head
in terms of the breakout specific to the South Asia DNCP
component. I would be happy to get those numbers for you, Mr.
Sherman.
Mr. Sherman. Got you. We are looking at this bilateral
investment treaty. I think it is important that you make sure
that it is not just making India safe for offshoring jobs and
that you look not only--because you are going to hear from the
companies and they are going to equate, well, whatever has them
make profits that must be good for America. I hope that you
have the economic support to see whether this agreement will
lead to jobs.
The economic analysis of permanent MFN for China was large
trade that would be balanced. Instead we have seen the American
middle class crushed as a result of that bad decision. We
certainly don't want to repeat it with regard to India.
As to energy, you have got 300 million people in India
without regular power. There is natural interest in India in
the nuclear power, yet they have failed to attract U.S.
suppliers to set up nuclear facilities. What does the U.S. need
to do to get India to sign onto the convention on supplementary
compensation, and to what extent had the Indians promised to do
that or something similar as part of the 123 Agreement?
Ms. Biswal. Thank you, Congressman. I think one of the big
breakthroughs during the President's visit on Republic Day was
the progress made on implementing the 123 Agreement, the Civil
Nuclear Cooperation, and the breakthroughs were in two key
areas. One was on creating the understandings and assurances on
tracking fissile material that allow us to move forward and to
be in compliance with our requirements with respect to tracking
of fissile material.
And the second was on this issue of nuclear liability and
clarifications from the Government of India from the Prime
Minister himself as well as the Foreign Minister about the
liability for operators as opposed to for suppliers, which is
largely in keeping with the conventional and supplementary
compensation. That articulation by the highest levels of the
Indian Government about its interpretation of Indian law with
respect to how liability accrues is in keeping with the CSC and
paves the way now for the Indian Parliament to ratify the CSC,
which we hope that they will do in short order. That is
something that is largely for the Indian system to take up. We
are hopeful that that progress on ratification will be made in
the near future.
Mr. Sherman. So the ratification under these circumstances
would provide the protection necessary for U.S. companies to
operate?
Ms. Biswal. It would provide the assurances of how India
sees and accrues liability in the event of any kind of a
happenstance. So it does therefore then guide how companies
would see their own liabilities and how the courts would see
and determine liability, we believe.
Mr. Sherman. I want to go on. Just for the record, if you
could give us a timeline about how the South and Central Asia
Bureau is being restructured to include Afghanistan and
Pakistan that would be helpful for our record.
I want to shift over to Sri Lanka. We have witnessed a
democratic change of government there and of course the end of
the civil war, but parts of the country have yet to recover
especially the north and eastern regions where the Tamil
minority lives. What is the State Department doing to encourage
the Sri Lanka to get the army to leave these occupied lands and
to allow displaced persons to return?
And what are the efforts, Jon, that you are making to
rebuild the schools and hospitals that were destroyed in the
northern and eastern parts of the country?
Ms. Biswal. I will answer briefly and then turn to my
colleague as well to chime in on the Sri Lanka support
prospects and priorities.
With respect to the bureaucratic restructuring that you
referenced with respect to the South and Central Asia Bureau
and the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,
this is something that we are looking at very closely. We have
always felt and articulated that, at the right time, we wanted
to reintegrate and combine these entities--which were very
important at the time while we had an ongoing conflict and a
very large and complex operation to manage--to be able to
provide that dedicated management focus by creating a Special
Representative's office. I think as we look at the transition
in Afghanistan, we are looking to see in the near future how we
bring that structure and reintegrate that into the Bureau. So
that is something that I think we will be looking at and moving
forward on in the months ahead.
With respect to Sri Lanka, I think you are absolutely right
to focus on some of the very deep challenges in terms of
supporting reconciliation, and that is to address some of these
longstanding issues of land. The government has actually set a
fairly ambitious 100-day plan and has started down that path
including, I believe, just in the past day or so there was an
announcement in Jaffna by the government, by the commission on
land that I believe they set up, on returning the initial
parcels of land. We think that that is a good start and we know
much, much more needs to be done. And the United States has
said it has committed that Sri Lanka will not be walking down
that path alone; that we are committed to helping them address
some of these key issues so that there can be more meaningful
reconciliation moving forward.
But why don't I turn to Jon Stivers on that.
Mr. Stivers. Thank you Ranking Member Sherman for that
question and for your interest in U.S.-Sri Lankan relations and
the plight of the Tamil community in northern Sri Lanka.
The democratic election in Sri Lanka was really a testament
to the Sri Lankan people who changed government at the ballot
box in a nonviolent way in honor of their traditions, their
longstanding democratic traditions. Shortly after the election
we sent an interagency assessment team to Sri Lanka to really
look at the reform agenda of the government and assess the
needs of the Sri Lankan people moving forward. We found strong
support for the reform agenda from the government.
The government was elected with the support of the minority
populations and we saw that land was an absolute key priority
for the people there in Sri Lanka including accountability,
decentralization and rebuilding of democratic institutions. We
hope to support the elections process moving forward, as well
as civil society and the vulnerable communities all over the
country, and youth.
We are looking closely at the assistance package moving
forward both in the short term and the long term. We have
briefed a number of your staffs on the findings of the
assessment team, and we hope to work with Congress, get your
input before decisions are made and move forward in a
bipartisan way--Congress and executive branch working together.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Mr. Connolly?
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Biswal, I know it has been brought to your attention
that there seems to be a serious issue with the seizure of
Indian passports bearing a T visa issued by the United States
to Indian nationals. I believe you have been apprised to that
issue by us. I believe we have written to you. Can you please
comment on it? This is very troubling. I mean here are people
who have been victims of human trafficking. We give them a
special status on their visa or their passport or both, and the
Indian Government is seizing them.
Ms. Biswal. Thank you, Congressman. This is an issue that
has caused concern at the Department as well. The United States
adopted the T visa status in line with our obligations under
the Palermo Protocol to permit trafficking victims to remain in
the United States in appropriate cases and to reunite with
immediate family members. We have expressed our concern to the
Government of India over this alleged policy, both here in
Washington and in India through our Ambassador, and we continue
to engage with the Indians on this issue.
Shortly after learning of this new policy, our officials
visited in New Delhi and met with the Ministry of External
Affairs to gather additional information and to obtain a copy
of this new policy. Our Consular Affairs Bureau, our Embassy
officials, and I myself personally, have raised these issues
with Indian officials both as part of our U.S.-India consular
dialogue and as part of our ongoing diplomatic engagement.
Mr. Connolly. What is the rationale you are given by the
Indian Government?
Ms. Biswal. The Indian Government has said that they
believe that our issuing visas to their citizens on issues
where they believe there should be a domestic judicial process
to address these concerns--that they don't support that.
However, I would add that this issue has received significant
domestic attention in India as well and has already been
challenged in the Indian courts.
At the state level, the State of Kerala's High Court has
recently ruled that India's ban on T visas violates fundamental
rights guaranteed by India's constitution. So I think that this
is a policy that is under considerable debate and discussion
within India as well as being the subject of U.S.-India
conversations.
Mr. Connolly. All right. Well, I would appreciate you
responding in writing to the requests that have been given to
you by us.
And Mr. Chairman, I would ask for unanimous consent that a
document, a one-page document, issued by the Intelligence
Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs with the Government of
India regarding this issue be formally entered into the record.
Mr. Salmon. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Connolly. I thank my friend.
Final question and switching gears entirely, your turn, Mr.
Stivers. I mentioned in my brief opening remarks about my
concern about, well, my desire to see more metrics and more of
a narrative about the cumulative positive impact, hopefully, of
our economic investments in the form of foreign aid especially
in South Asia.
I want to give you the opportunity--I know you are new, but
you are not new to the subject matter and so forth--your
observations about that.
Mr. Stivers. Thank you, Mr. Connolly, for that question and
for your interest in foreign assistance reform and how our
foreign assistance can operate better. The United States--the
administration and Congress--we do have to tell a better story
about how our less than 1 percent of the Federal budget really
promotes our security, stability in the world, our prosperity
in terms of economic growth, and promotes our democratic
values. Development is absolutely key to the Asia Rebalance
because it engages with the people. It is not just government-
to-government relations, but it engages the people and it
tackles some of the challenges in their lives.
And so the narrative about why that is important to all
these important issues in the world is really a story that
needs to be told in a much better way. Empowering the reformers
who are trying to create change in this country. It is
democratic reformers, but it is also women reformers who are
trying to change traditions that are not fair and are unjust.
And so to the extent that our assistance is promoting these
values we have to talk about that. More specifically, our
health investments especially in the regions--especially in
Bangladesh and Nepal--are really achieving tremendous results.
In Bangladesh we have helped them achieve 60 percent decreases
in child and maternal mortality in recent years. In Nepal they
have had a successful election; they are in the difficult
process right now of writing a constitution. But there have
been tremendous successes on nutrition. Same goes with India.
And so in my written testimony I went more through some of
those specific examples.
On terms of India and Bangladesh, they are meeting their
Millennium Development Goals; they are cutting poverty; they
are really helping people and they are moving their countries
along with relatively high economic growth rates. And we look
forward to working with you and telling that story especially
in the consideration of the budget.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Ms. Meng?
Ms. Meng. Thank you.
As I mentioned earlier, we consider the country of
Bangladesh a good friend of the United States. It is a
democratic, moderate country in the region and we have happily
seen it grow in economic power.
However, Mr. Stivers, as you said some of the success in
Bangladesh has been achieved despite a difficult political
situation. What can the U.S. Government do to encourage a de-
escalation in violence and political posturing? I have heard
conflicting reports that the situation has begun to improve,
and if that is true what can we do to continue on that path?
Because there is no guarantee a de-escalation will be
sustained.
And in relation to that has the ongoing political standoff
between the ruling Awami League and the BNP opposition had any
adverse effects on the implementation of U.S. assistance
programs in Bangladesh?
Mr. Stivers. Thank you for that question. Despite the
political upheaval, Bangladesh has been an excellent partner
with achievements in economic growth and health and
agriculture, and we must stay engaged. We know that violence
and governance challenges have the potential to threaten a lot
of the economic development gains that have been made.
The Fiscal Year 2016 budget, it includes a $10-million
increase in support for civil society in Bangladesh. That is
one of the larger increases within the budget for South Asia.
Our support for civil society helps them push back on some of
the negative trends that have been occurring politically.
But in terms of our development successes, I mentioned the
60 percent declines in maternal and child mortality. We have
introduced new fertilizer techniques that have increased rice
yields by 20 percent, and better management of forests and
wetlands. In terms of the economic development side for
Bangladesh, there has been tremendous progress and so far that
progress has not been threatened, but we must stay engaged and
it is important for the political impasse too to hopefully be
resolved soon.
Ms. Biswal. If I could add to what my colleague has said on
the assistance side, we have been very engaged diplomatically
on urging a lessening in the violence and an improvement in
terms of the political climate in Dhaka, where Ambassador
Marcia Bernicat working with her colleagues in the diplomatic
community, ten Chiefs of Missions working together, met with
leadership in both parties and with the government to address
our concerns and to convey our concerns about, one, the level
of violence, and two, creating conditions for greater political
dialogue and to create a more inclusive political environment.
We have been quite clear both privately and publicly about
the fact that we believe there is no place for violent protest
in political discourse and have urged that any political
parties that have been party to such violent protest, that they
have to first and foremost reject violence, and secondly, we
have been quite clear that we need to see some space for a
political dialogue and have urged the government to try to
create that space.
I do agree, Congresswoman, that there has been a decrease
in violence over the past couple of weeks and we hope that that
trend continues, and we will continue to work with our
Bangladeshi friends. Because at the end of the day, we all want
to see Bangladesh continue to move forward as a stable, secure
and prosperous country that is able to provide opportunity for
all of its citizens and to be able to continue to play the
strong and constructive role that it plays in advancing global
security through its contributions in peacekeeping and through
other ways. So this is an issue where we are very intensively
engaged in trying to support improvements in that political
environment.
Ms. Meng. Thank you. And I know I am running out of time,
but if you could address this maybe in a later testimony.
Can you expand on initiatives in India in relation to
women's and children's health, and also initiatives to decrease
reports of violence against women?
Ms. Biswal. Jon, do you want to----
Mr. Stivers. Sure, sure. Well, thank you for that question.
Women's empowerment is a big challenge in India and indeed all
of Asia, and gender violence certainly is a significant
challenge. That it is one for moral reasons of course, but it
also holds back development of the country and its economic
growth and prosperity.
As we know, empowerment of women is key to a healthy and
strong country and economy. USAID has a number of initiatives
related to that, to gender violence. We have a ``Safe Cities''
program which includes gender in urban planning and
infrastructure, and we have also helped with a film called
``Girl Rising,'' which tells the stories of about nine women,
helps raise awareness, and we have helped in terms of local
language release and teaching materials. It has raised
awareness and helps combat some of the negative issues around
that in India.
Ms. Biswal. I would also just add that some of the most
powerful voices on women's empowerment and women's security are
Indian voices and that there has been a tremendous amount of
media attention and focus within civil society and within the
business community in India. And our goal is to support Indian
efforts and Indian initiatives because we believe that there is
very strong leadership emerging in India to address these
issues.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Mr. Bera?
Mr. Bera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, and
thank the witnesses. Often when we are looking at the U.S.-
India relationship we focus on some of the challenges, and I am
actually going to shift this because there are a lot of
positive things that are really happening in the relationship.
In my opening comments I mentioned raising the FDI
insurance caps. That is a positive step. That is something we
have talked about for a long time and I think we should applaud
the Modi administration for taking that step which will
certainly help investment flows. I think tackling issues like
introducing the land acquisition bill in India is a positive
step, not an easy step but a positive step. So again I think we
should applaud the Modi administration for that.
Looking at some of India's ascension going from a recipient
nation to a donor nation, particularly when I look at some of
the work they are doing in Africa, I think, is something that
we should applaud. And in fact, I think, as we look at our
strategy within USAID, the Indian diaspora has a long history
in Africa and in fact may have a better understanding of
African politics and culture and can very much be a strategic
partner here.
Mr. Stivers, in your written testimony I am glad you gave a
shout-out to the University of California Davis, my home
institution, and some of the work that they are doing helping
address the food security issues both in India, but then also
partnering with India in addressing some of the food security
issues in Africa. There is real opportunities for our
institutions of higher education, our research institutions to
work with India.
Now shifting to next steps. How do we continue to move
forward? Secretary Biswal, you touched on making sure we move
forward and finalize the bilateral investment treaty. I think
that is a very important aspect that will then help resolve
some of these issues for American companies and so forth. And I
really do think both from our end making sure USGR is focused
on getting a BIT signed, continuing to use USAID to empower
India to again move from a recipient nation to a donor nation.
And USAID has a very interesting program that was announced
by the President in January when he was there, the Diaspora
Bonds. The Prime Minister, in his comments here in September
when he was in New York and Washington, DC, clearly asked the
Indian-American diaspora that has done so well here to take the
lead in continuing to move the relationship forward. Clearly
there is a role in the diaspora that wants to see this
relationship come together. And I would be curious, this is a
very innovative and new program, if you could comment on the
Diaspora Bonds.
Mr. Stivers. Sure. Thank you, Congressman Bera, and thank
you for your leadership on U.S.-Indian relations which is so
important because we have so many mutual interests, mutual
democratic values where we can really work together promote a
lot of good in this world. And I think that President Obama and
Prime Minister Modi are really taking this relationship to a
new level.
In terms of the Diaspora Initiative, it is an innovative
assistance program. The 3 million Indian-Americans who are
living in the U.S. know how important that relationship is. And
the initiative as you mentioned it partners with the Calvert
Fund and private Indian financial institutions to really
harness the investment potential of Indian-Americans living in
the U.S. to address some of the social challenges that not just
India faces but the development challenges that we have
globally. And it is a very important initiative and thank you
for mentioning it.
Mr. Bera. Absolutely. And another positive is you are
getting the framework for the DTTI engaged on the defensive
side, the defense framework. I think that is a positive now
continuing to move forward on aircraft carrier technology, on
the pathfinder projects and so forth. Again those are some low-
hanging fruit that are both in our interests as we see a strong
India and its presence in the Indian Ocean.
Secretary Biswal, I would be curious about your thoughts
about the potentials here.
Ms. Biswal. Well, thank you very much, Congressman. Clearly
India and India's rise as a net security provider across the
Indian Ocean region is going to be of growing importance. We
want to have partners that we can work with that share our
goals and values in terms of the global order and the rules
based world that we want to see, and we know that in order to
bring that about we need to have partner countries that can do
that. And investing in India's capabilities is profoundly in
our self interest in that sense.
The DTTI initiative is really focused on again advancing
those kinds of efforts that bring Indian capabilities and
really look toward advancing interoperability between our two
militaries so that we can continue to deepen the partnership.
India is taking on a greater role in maritime security on
addressing issues like piracy and in creating the environment
for safe commerce to occur. And so in DTTI we have seen in
looking at carrier technology, in looking at things like the
pathfinder projects and things like UAVs and such, we are
looking at how we can invest in those capabilities. I think
Undersecretary Kendall was just there and has been making good
progress in that area.
Mr. Bera. Great. So again this is an exciting time in the
relationship. Undoubtedly we will encounter challenges on both
sides of the partnership, but if we keep our eyes on the
broader, longer term goal this really can be the defining
partnership in this century. So thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Salmon. I thank both Ms. Biswal and Mr. Stivers for
coming and doing a very, very good job expressing the
priorities, and we really appreciate your willingness to work
closely with us as we try to conduct one of our most important
functions and that is oversight. So thank you very, very much,
and it is great to see that people move from here and go on to
the other branch to live very successful careers. So thank you.
Mr. Sherman. I think this demonstrates that when people
with experience in the House move into the executive branch,
the executive branch is the clear winner. And I yield back.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you. This hearing is now concluded. Thank
you.
[Whereupon, at 12:12 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the Record
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Material submitted for the record by the Honorable Gerald E. Connolly,
a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia
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