The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) regularly hosts meetings between business and political leaders from the United States and India, striving to drive engagement and collaboration between the countries for their mutual advancement.

1. USINPAC HOSTS DR.
UDIT RAJ FOR MEETING
WITH US
CONGRESSMEN
By Sanjay Puri

2. Introduction
 The US India Political Action Committee
(USINPAC) regularly hosts meetings between
business and political leaders from the United
States and India, striving to drive engagement and
collaboration between the countries for their
mutual advancement. In June 2015, USINPAC
brought together US congressional
representatives from Texas and California and
Indian parliament member Dr. Udit Raj for a series
of meetings on US-India collaboration and
innovation in a number of sectors. Congressmen
Ami Bera, Mike Honda, Pete Olson, Ted Poe, and
Eric Swalwell were in attendance for the
meetings, which provided a forum for discussion
on energy and smart city development.

3. USINPAC
 Mr. Bera, himself Indian American, highlighted India
as a key location for international investments in
technology and renewable energy and expressed his
hope for future US-India trade partnerships in both
sectors.
Broaching the topic of smart cities, which harness
emerging information and communication
technologies to improve the efficiency and overall
quality of urban life, Mr. Olson proposed Houston,
Texas, as a potential framework for the development
of Indian smart cities. He cited the city’s status as the
“energy capital of the world,” also noting his home
state’s large Indian diaspora as a potential source of
investment for the Indian tech industry.

4. Conclusion
 The attendees also discussed US-India
education exchange programs, and many of
the congressmen invited Dr. Raj to address
their constituencies. Dr. Raj expressed his
enthusiasm at working with the congressional
representatives, and USINPAC plans to keep
the dialogue open to spur action on many of
the items discussed during the meetings.