India, U.S. need to have much stronger relationship, says Congressman Shri Thanedar

India and the U.S. must work on making bilateral ties stronger and focus on collaboration on education and cultural fronts, Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar has said.

India and the United States must work on making bilateral ties stronger and focus on collaboration on education and cultural fronts, Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar has said.

He expressed hope that the two sides will talk about cooperation in the education and business sectors and find ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the U.S. this month.

“As an Indian-American Congressman, I am excited to welcome him to the United States Congress and to this country as a leader of the largest democracy in the world,” Mr. Thanedar told PTI on June 6 ahead of PM Modi's visit.

Prime Minister Modi is visiting the U.S. from June 21-24 at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. The U.S. President and the First Lady will also host Mr. Modi at a state dinner on June 22.

“Not only was I born there in India, but I also grew up in India. I believe that the United States and India, the two large democracies, need to have a much stronger relationship," said Mr. Thanedar, who grew up in Belgaum.

“We should also talk about the immigration issues, the visa issues, the Green Card backlogs. I think it's about time that the two nations worked on making the relationship even stronger,” said the U.S. representative from Michigan's 13th congressional district.

He said the country is currently having a broken immigration system that needs to be fixed.