India hot topic at Republican meet

TAMPA, August 28, 2012



India may well be poised to receive top billing at the ongoing Republican National Convention here in Florida, as an alleged draft party platform inadvertently posted on the convention website defined India as the U.S.' "geopolitical ally and a strategic trading partner".



The copy, which was obtained by Politico before being pulled down from the site, went on to note, "We encourage India to permit greater foreign investment and trade. We urge protection for adherents of all India's religions. Both as Republicans and as Americans, we note with pride the contributions to this country that are being made by our fellow citizens of Indian ancestry."



The draft also added that the working relationship between India and the U.S. was "a necessary, though sometimes difficult, benefit to both, and we look toward the renewal of historic ties that have frayed under the weight of international conflict".



Commenting upon other nations in the South Asia region in this context the Republican Party draft foreign policy remarks said that the U.S. should "expect the Pakistan government to sever any connection between its security and intelligence forces and the insurgents". No Pakistani citizen should be punished for helping the U.S. against terrorists, it added.



India will also feature at the convention via the much-awaited speech by Indian-American Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley (40), who has often highlighted her Indian heritage and economic links with India, including in an interview with The Hindu earlier this year.



Wednesday's events will also feature an invocation by Ishwar Singh, a member of the Sikh Society of Central Florida, whose inclusion gains significance in the wake of the August 5 shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, where an alleged white supremacist killed six worshippers at the gurdwara.
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