China needs to respect India’s borders, says US Congressman Ro Khanna

NEW DELHI: Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has said that China needs to respect India’s borders and that he will work towards New Delhi getting critical US technologies like some other key allies including Israel, Japan and South Korea. Ro Khanna, co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus who is leading a bipartisan Congressional delegation here, hoped that India can play a role in effecting peace between Russia and Ukraine.

“It's very important that we keep India's sovereignty.…They (China) need to respect India's border and this is why I went to the Western Naval Command. We are working very closely with the American Navy to make sure the Arabian Sea remains free for navigation and that the Indian Ocean remains free, and we will continue to strengthen that relationship,” Khanna told ANI in an interview. Answering a query about discussions on democratic and human rights during his India visit, the Congressman stated that both India and US are democracies and recognising minority rights and pluralism helps become better democracies.

“I believe that both America and India are important democracies that they have to move towards becoming even better democracies. And that means recognizing pluralism, recognizing minority rights, making sure that every person is treated with equality,” Khanna said.

“These are conversations as good friends as allies that we need to continue to have with respect. I will say I have had these conversations in India and they've been welcomed….and the government has been welcoming me having these conversations”, he added. Strongly condemning the attack on the India consulate in San Francisco by Khalistani separatists, Khanna said that there can be no violence against an embassy. “There was no place for that and I condemned it very strongly. There can be no violence against an embassy, against a consulate in America and there is no space for a separatist movement,” he said.

“Punjab is a part of India, that is a settled question. We need to make sure everyone is treated equally, whether Hindu, Christian, Sikh or Muslim. Punjab is a part of India,” he added.

Asked about India’s G20 Presidency and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ro Khanna said that India has a great opportunity for leadership and can play a role in establishing peace. He said there needs to be a ceasefire as it is affecting commodity prices globally. “We need to have Ukraine's sovereignty restored, but there also needs to be peace. There needs to be a ceasefire, otherwise, this is affecting wheat prices. It's affecting oil prices, not to mention the loss of human life...so hopefully India can play a role in getting peace,” the Congressman said. Khanna hailed the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US and termed it a “big success”.

He said bilateral ties have never been stronger. “The PM's visit was a big success. The announcement of the jet engine deal with GE, Air India buying almost 200 aircraft from Boeing is very important for the American economy and as the chair of the India-US Caucus, I am going to make sure that India has access to the critical technology like Israel, Japan, South Korea, like our key allies,” he said.