The Indian Ambassador to the United States Navtej Sarna met with Sen. Bernie Sanders and discussed bilateral ties between India and the United States. A tweet by the Indian Embassy in the US on Wednesday, last week said: “Ambassador Navtej Sarna warmly received by Sen. Bernie Sanders; enjoyed discussing positive outlook for Indian economy, strong #IndiaUSbonds & shared regional perspectives.”
According to the Indian Embassy, the Sarna-Sanders meeting was restricted primarily to discussions on US-India relationship and the Indian economy. Sarna, who only recently presented his credentials on Capitol Hill, has been making the rounds with various US legislators.
Sanders, who is the longest-serving independent in the US congressional history, had lost to his fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is now serving his term in the US Senate after winning re-election in 2012 with 71 per cent of the vote.
The left-leaning socialist values Sanders and President Donald Trump are on opposite sides when it comes to some of the major decisions taken by the latter. Sanders, who was the top contender to eventual Democratic Party nominee in the party primaries for the presidential elections, had attacked Trump’s position on climate change and called it “pathetic and an embarrassment to the world”.
Ambassador of India Navtej Sarna hosted a reception for a record 26 Governors of the States of the US at his residence on February 24 in Washington, DC. The gathering of governors from across the nation, representing both the major political parties, described as the first of its nature held in recent years, was attended by a record number of Governors, including Governors of Virginia, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virgin Islands, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Senior representatives of Governors of California, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania were also in the audience.