October 14, 2015 — New Delhi, India
An AJC leadership delegation stressed the organization’s commitment to advancing U.S.-India and Israel-India ties, and discussed regional and global issues of common concern with senior Indian officials, parliamentarians, policy analysts, and diplomats. It was AJC's latest visit to the world’s most populous democracy.
Two days of consultations in the Indian capital, led by AJC President Stanley Bergman and Associate Executive Director for Policy Jason Isaacson, were part of a weeklong program of meetings and site visits in three cities, including a tour of an Indian-Israeli agricultural “center of excellence” in Karnal; interactions with university students, business leaders, and AJC Project Interchange alumni; and discussions and fellowship with the Mumbai Jewish community.
This week’s visit continued a more than 20-year tradition of AJC consultations in India, where the global Jewish advocacy organization has had continuous representation since 1994.
“India, the United States and Israel – robust democracies and natural allies – enjoy increasingly strong strategic, political and economic links, substantially benefiting their people and contributing to global peace and prosperity,” said Isaacson. “AJC has been a vigorous advocate of this triangular partnership for more than two decades – and this week’s visit, coinciding with the historic visit to Israel of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, reinforced our efforts.”
Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Power Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla were among the officials with whom the 23-member AJC delegation met.
AJC Asia Pacific Institute (API) chair Jeffrey E. Stone, API Director Shira Loewenberg, AJC Project Interchange chair Harriet Schleifer, and past PI chair Robert Peckar were among the delegation members. Meetings were coordinated by API Assistant Director Nissim Reuben, AJC India Representative Arjun Hardas, and API Coordinator Daniel Silver.
