Policy Council on India

Purpose

The Policy Council on India provides a forum for informed, high level deliberation on the increasingly dynamic relationship between the United States and India. This carefully selected group of leaders from business and policy circles meets twice a year to consider recent developments in India and their policy implications for regional and for U.S.-Indian relations. Their objective is to identify short-term agenda items with long-term impact for government and business. The Council will help shape CSIS’s ongoing program of research and policy dialogue in South Asia.

The Council, led by Ambassador Teresita Schaffer, Director for South Asia at CSIS, is cochaired by William Clark, former Ambassador to India, and Michael Gadbaw, Vice President and Senior Counsel, General Electric Company. Council discussions have included leading India experts Rafiq Dossani, Asia Pacific Research Center, Stanford University; and Ashutosh Varshney, Director of the Center for South Asian Studies, University of Michigan and senior U.S. government officials such as Kenneth I. Juster, Under Secretary of Commerce. Corporate representatives also participate. In addition to joining meetings of the Council, corporate members will be entitled to briefings on South Asia issues by Teresita Schaffer and her staff, to invitations to other program events, and to all program publications. Members include: P&G, Xerox, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, GE, Citigroup, Coca Cola, BP, ExxonMobil, Kodak and others.

The Council’s focus is on the issues that will drive U.S.-Indian relations in the next decade but that need to be reflected in today’s policy. Recent highlights include:

• Talk by Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs: Ambassador Burns led a discussion on India-U.S. relations against the background of 2006 visit by President Bush to India. Under Secretary Burns has been closely involved in discussions that seek to advance the new strategic partnership between the two countries.
• The Next Generation of Indian Economic Reform: Distinguished economists Swaminathan Aiyar and Arvind Panagariya discussed the next steps for India’s economic reforms.
• The View from Congress and the Indian Parliament: Ashwani Kumar, a member of India’s Upper House and a visiting fellow at CSIS, and U.S. Representatives Jim McDermott and Joe Wilson gave their perceptions on how the two governments’ agendas played out in India’s parliament and the U.S. Congress.