Support for relationship with India strong in US Congress: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held an engaging discussion with members of the House of Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) during their visit to Washington DC.

In the meeting, Chair of the HFAC sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific, Ami Berra, outgoing Chair Brad Sherman, Ranking Member Ted Yoho and Francis Roone exchanged views on defence, foreign and strategic partnership between the two countries.

India's Ambassador to the US, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, was also present during the meeting.

When asked if India is having a problem with the Democrats because of the developments in the country after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and the newly-enacted citizenship law, Jaishankar stressed that there is strong support for relationship with India in the Congress and that such sweeping conclusions should not be reached based on a few voices.

EAM along with the Indian ambassador to the US also met and exchanged views with US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Jim Risch and Ranking Member Senator Bob Mendez at the Capitol Hill.

Apart from talks on strong Indio-US relationship, the meeting with the Senate foreign affairs committee leaders also included a discussion on Kashmir and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the request of the lawmakers.

Jaishankar offered a perspective to the lawmakers that was more truthful and comprehensive than what they had gathered from published reports.

The two leaders earlier took part in the second India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue which took place on Wednesday.