India lobbies hard in US to stay ahead
29 Jan 2009, 0333 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: As the Obama administration slowly unveils its policy towards the Indian subcontinent, India is sparing no efforts to ensure that its relationship with the new dispensation remains on the same trajectory as under the Republicans.

After concluding the nuclear deal, the government still continues to engage lobbyists in Washington for advice on dealing with the new administration and the US Congress. India spent around $2.23 million since 2005 on engaging the lobby firm BGR (Barbour, Griffith and Rogers), according to official lobbying records.

The focus was mainly on foreign policy issues, with the past three years specifically devoted to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. The Indian government spent $630,000 in 2007 and $640,000 in 2008 on BGR. The expenditure on the firm had shot up to $72,000 in the year 2006, when the nuclear deal was signed by US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The period between 2006 and 2008 was crucial as the nuclear deal went through the US House of Representatives and Senate during that period.

The BGR officials who have been active in lobbying for India include former ambassador to the US Robert Blackwill and former House Foreign Affairs committee staffer Robert Walker. Mr Blackwill left BGR in 2008. India also hired Patton Boggs in August last year. The Democrat leaning Patton Boggs is being retained by the Indian government to push its interests in Washington, with the Democrats now holding sway. The organisation is led by Graham Wisner, a brother of former US ambassador to India Frank Wisner.

Lobbying efforts also contributed to a resolution in the US Senate recently on the Mumbai terror attacks. The US Senate unanimously condemned the attacks and praised India’s restraint. The House of Representatives adopted a similar resolution soon after. India’s expenditure on lobby firms is unlikely to reduce anytime soon. Even as the new administration unveils its foreign policy agenda, interest and pressure groups continue to court the US legislators. The most recent efforts were aimed at preventing a re-hyphenation of India and Pakistan. “Our message is that India and Pakistan cannot be hyphenated and India should be taken as a partner,” said Robinder Sachdev of USINPAC (US India Political Action Committee), an organisation representing the Indian American community on Capitol Hill.

An USINPAC delegation met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early this month in wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. The group also started a Washington Chalo initiative asking Indian Americans to “remind the congressional representatives” about the attacks.

Moreover, the group has taken an active interest in the new administration’s Pakistan agenda and is seeking controls on the aid given to the neighbouring country. “We have held discussions on the need to focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan and aid to Pakistan,” Mr Sachdev added.