Parliamentary panel flags diaspora 'silence' on US adversarial moves

NEW DELHI: The parliamentary committee on external affairs Tuesday raised concerns over the "silence" of the Indian-American diaspora on recent adversarial decisions taken by the US with a visiting five-member delegation of US lawmakers, some of whom "shared the view". The delegates, all Democrats, were led by Ami Bera, who represents Sacramento in US House of Representatives.

"I do want to stress that one of the points we raised is why the Indian-American diaspora has been so silent about all this. One of the Congressmen said not one phone call has come to her office from any Indian-American voter asking her to support a change of policy," chairperson Shashi Tharoor said. "Some of the US lawmakers shared the view."

Tharoor said, "We all need to reach out to the Indian-American population, saying if you care about your relationship with the motherland, then you also have to fight for and speak for it."