Speeches & Testimony

U.S. – INDIA INDO-PACIFIC DIALOGUE

Pacific Forum

Hilton Garden Inn

Kauai

June 24 – 25, 2024

ALOHA! I’M U.S. CONGRESSMAN ED CASE

I TRULY REGRET THAT I JUST COULDN’T MAKE MY CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE WORK TO JOIN YOU PERSONALLY ON KAUA’I. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY NOT JUST TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS BUT ESPECIALLY TO LISTEN TO YOURS.

LET ME FIRST THANK OUR GREAT PACIFIC FORUM, AND ITS PRESIDENT, DOCTOR DAVID SANTORO, AS WELL AS DR. RAM MADHAW OF THE INDIA FOUNDATION, FOR YOUR FORESIGHT AND HARD WORK TO ORGANIZE THIS GATHERING.

AND, AS WE ALL KNOW, YOUR DIALOGUE ON THE U.S.-INDIA RELATIONSHIP IN THE INDO-PACIFIC AND BEYOND IS HIGHLY TOPICAL AND RELEVANT.

FOR WHETHER WE WANT IT OR NOT, THE REALITY IS THAT OUR GENERATION IS MARKED AND DEFINED BY A CONTEST, BY WHATEVER NAME YOU WANT TO CALL IT, BETWEEN AUTHORITARIANISM AND DEMOCRACY, BETWEEN TWO MODELS OF GOVERNANCE, EACH ASSERTING THAT ITS MODEL IS BETTER ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS OF ITS PEOPLES AND THE OTHER MODEL IS FATALLY FLAWED.

THE UNITED STATES AND INDIA HAVE CHOSEN DEMOCRACY, UNDER WHICH WE HAVE ADVANCED, PERHAPS IN FITS AND STARTS AND DIVERSIONS AND MESSILY AT TIMES, BUT ALWAYS FORWARD. INDIA OF COURSE JUST HELD THE LARGEST DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN THE WORLD, AND THE UNITD STATES WILL CHART OUR OWN COURSE AGAIN IN A FEW SHORT MONTHS.

FOR ALL MANNER OF REASONS, THE U.S.-INDIA RELATIONSHIP IS A NATURAL ONE, DRIVEN BY THE TRAJECTORY OF OUR TWO NATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS WORLD AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY. YET ALIGNMENT ALONE DOES NOT CREATE AND SUSTAIN ANY RELATIONSHIP. IT TAKES MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT AND HARD WORK THROUGH OBSTACLES AND CIRCUMSTANCES TO DEVELOP A SUSTAINED TRUST AND PARTNERSHIP.

THE ISSUES AROUND WHICH OUR PARTNERSHIP MUST JELL ARE DIFFICULT AND FAR-REACHING. THE DEFINING GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGE OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, A FREE AND OPEN INDIAN OCEAN, ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT AND TRADE, INDUSTRIALIZATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE ARE JUST STARTERS AND DEFINITE SUBJECTS FOR YOUR DIALOGUE.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE FOUNDATION IS THERE AND GROWING RAPIDLY AS THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE BETWEEN OUR TWO COUNTRIES KNITS TOGETHER. WE SEE THIS IN VARIOUS DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDING ENGAGEMENT AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS, THE QUAD, AND HIGH INTEREST IN CONGRESS.

WE OF COURSE HOSTED PRIME MINISTER MODI A YEAR AGO IN A FORMAL ADDRESS TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS. A FEW MONTHS LATER I JOINED ONE OF MANY CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATIONS TO INDIA WHERE I WAS HONORED TO MEET PERSONALLY WITH THE PRIME MINISTER AND HIS SENIOR LEADERSHIP ON VARIOUS ISSUES. ON THE LEGISLATIVE FRONT, OUR U.S. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FEDERAL FUNDING AND ON WHICH I SERVE, HAS CONTINUED TO INCREASE VARIOUS CHANNELS OF FUNDING TO THE INDO-PACIFIC GENERALLY AND OUR RELATIONSHIP SPECIFICALLY. AND I RECENTLY CO-SPONSORED A BILL, THE INDIAN OCEAN STRATEGIC REVIEW ACT, LED BY MY COLLEAGUES REPRESENTATIVES JOAQUIN CASTRO AND DARRELL ISSA, THAT WILL ENHANCE U-S STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION GENERALLY AND OF COURSE INDIA BY MANDATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-YEAR STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PLAN TO COORDINATE REGIONAL MILTIARY, DIPLOMATIC AND DEVELOPMENT INTIATIVES.

THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF MANY EXAMPLES OF EFFORTS UNDERWAY IN OUR TWO COUNTRIES TO STRENGTHEN THE RELATIONSHIP THAT IS AMONG THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF OUR INDO-PACIFIC AND WORLD. THIS IS A GOAL THAT WE MUST ACHIEVE, AND WE ALL HAVE A PART IN IT, INCLUDING YOUR DIALOGUE ON THE PEACEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL ISLAND OF KAUA’I.

MAHALO NUI LOA FOR YOUR EFFORT, AND I TRULY LOOK FORWARD TO THE RESULTS OF YOUR DISCUSSIONS AND TO CONTINUING TO PARTNER WITH YOU TOWARD OUR MUTUAL GOALS.

ALOHA.