I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5387 

To authorize actions to advance the United States-India relationship, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2016 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 

to the Committees on Ways and Means and Armed Services, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize actions to advance the United States-India 

relationship, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Special Global Partnership with India Act of 2016’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definition. 


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Sec. 4. Statement of policy. 

TITLE I—ACTIONS TO ADVANCE THE SPECIAL GLOBAL 

PARTNERSHIP WITH INDIA 

Sec. 101. Actions to advance the Special Global Partnership. 

Sec. 102. Enhanced defense cooperation between the United States and India. 

Sec. 103. Eligibility of India for the strategic trade authorization exception to 

certain export control licensing requirements. 

Sec. 104. Assistance to promote and support the economic, environmental, and 

other sectors of India. 

TITLE II—SENSE OF CONGRESS AND OTHER PROVISIONS 

Sec. 201. Membership of India in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. 

Sec. 202. Sense of Congress on high-standard bilateral investment treaty. 

Sec. 203. Sense of Congress on Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Initiative. 

Sec. 204. Report on totalization agreement with India. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The peoples of the United States and India 

4 have a long history of friendship and the interests 

5 of the peoples of the United States, India, and the 

6 rest of the world will benefit from a stronger United 

7 States-India partnership. 

8 (2) President Clinton’s historic visit to India in 

9 March 2000 and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari 

10 Vajpayee’s reciprocal visit to the United States in 

11 September 2000 served as a key platform for the 

12 growth of the United States-India partnership. 

13 (3) Leaders in both countries belonging to both 

14 major political parties have prioritized the United 

15 States-India relationship including United States 

16 Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and 


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1 Indian Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and 

2 Narendra Modi. 

3 (4) The November 2001 agreement establishing 

4 a strategic partnership between India and the 

5 United States was an inflection point in the United 

6 States-India relationship. The January 2004 forma7 tion of the Next Steps in the Strategic Partnership 

8 with India (NSSP) maintained forward momentum 

9 in the United States-India relationship and ex10 panded cooperation in civilian nuclear activities, 

11 space programs, and high-technology trade. 

12 (5) The agreement to conclude the path-break13 ing Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Initiative (CNCI) 

14 was a key outcome of the NSSP and served as noti15 fication of the end of a cold war era in the United 

16 States-India relationship. 

17 (6) The rise of a democratic India as an Indo18 Pacific power is in the national security, political, 

19 and economic interest of the United States. 

20 (7) United States-India security cooperation 

21 has helped promote India’s role as a security pro22 vider in the Indian Ocean region with direct benefit 

23 to the United States and other countries, such as 

24 Yemen, where in April 2015 the Government of 


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1 India assisted in evacuating United States citizens 

2 from the country. 

3 (8) India has become an instrumental partner 

4 in delivering humanitarian and disaster relief in the 

5 Asia-Pacific region, including following the 2004 In6 dian Ocean Tsunami, and in the aftermath of the 

7 April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, where the Indian 

8 Air Force used United States-origin C–130 and C– 

9 17 aircraft to evacuate Indian, American, and third10 country nationals and send relief supplies. 

11 (9) Since 2002, the United States and India 

12 have held a series of increasingly complex combined 

13 bilateral exercises involving all military services. 

14 Such engagement has been a key aspect of United 

15 States-India relations in recent years—India now 

16 conducts more exercises and personnel exchanges 

17 with the United States than with any other country. 

18 (10) The June 2015 renewal of a ten-year de19 fense framework agreement meant to expand bilat20 eral security cooperation demonstrates the continued 

21 growth of the defense cooperation between India and 

22 the United States. 

23 (11) As a result of the Defense Technology and 

24 Trade Initiative, established in 2012, United States 

25 and Indian businesses have partnered on the codeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 08, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5387.IH H5387

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1 velopment of defense equipment, establishing a base 

2 from which to launch codevelopment and coproduc3 tion efforts in the future and expand India’s defense 

4 industrial base. 

5 (12) Two-way trade between India and the 

6 United States continues to expand, supporting thou7 sands of United States jobs, and has in only a dec8 ade nearly tripled from $36 billion in 2005 to over 

9 $107 billion in 2015. 

10 (13) The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 

11 (APEC) regional economic forum supports sustain12 able economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pa13 cific region. India’s geography provides an avenue 

14 for continued trade and investment partnerships 

15 with APEC member states. 

16 (14) India became an APEC observer in No17 vember 2011 at the invitation of the United States, 

18 and India’s achieving full membership furthers re19 gional economic integration and is in the interest of 

20 the United States. 

21 (15) India’s ‘‘Look East, Act East’’ strategy to 

22 expand economic engagement with East and South23 east Asia demonstrates its effort to pursue external 

24 oriented, market-driven economic policies and aligns 


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1 very closely with the United States strategy to rebal2 ance its Asia Pacific Strategy. 

3 (16) India is the world’s seventh largest econ4 omy in nominal terms and the third largest economy 

5 based on purchasing-power parity. 

6 (17) A significant number of Indian nationals 

7 contribute, according to some estimates, upwards of 

8 $1,000,000,000 into the Social Security system of 

9 the United States. 

10 (18) The United States and India have made 

11 tremendous strides in science and technology col12 laboration, including in the Moon and Mars explo13 ration, high-energy physics, and in joint efforts to 

14 develop a High Intensity Superconducting proton ac15 celerator. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

17 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com18 mittees’’ means— 

19 (1) the Committee on Appropriations and the 

20 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep21 resentatives; and 

22 (2) the Committee on Appropriations and the 

23 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 Congress declares that India is a Special Global Part3 ner of the United States. 

4 TITLE I—ACTIONS TO ADVANCE 

5 THE SPECIAL GLOBAL PART6 NERSHIP WITH INDIA 

7 SEC. 101. ACTIONS TO ADVANCE THE SPECIAL GLOBAL 

8 PARTNERSHIP. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall seek to take 

10 the actions described in subsection (b) with respect to ad11 vancing the United States-India relationship. 

12 (b) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions referred to in 

13 subsection (a) are the following: 

14 (1) Institutionalize an annual strategic and 

15 commercial dialogue with India to be held at the 

16 ministerial level. 

17 (2) Institutionalize an annual defense policy 

18 dialogue to coordinate with the Ministry of Defense 

19 for the Government of India on— 

20 (A) combined military planning for mis21 sions such as humanitarian assistance and dis22 aster relief, maritime domain awareness, and 

23 other missions deemed to be in the national se24 curity interests of both countries; 

25 (B) defense procurement planning to in26 clude humanitarian assistance and disaster reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 08, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5387.IH H5387

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1 lief, border maintenance and control, and mari2 time domain awareness; and 

3 (C) promoting better alignment among In4 dia’s export control and procurement regimes 

5 with those of the United States and the multi6 lateral control regimes. 

7 (3) Expand cooperation with the Government of 

8 India in the defense, intelligence, civilian sectors, in9 cluding with respect to high-technology goods, space 

10 exploration, climate change, agriculture, innovation, 

11 entrepreneurship, human rights, women’s empower12 ment, sport, medicine, infrastructure, high-energy 

13 physics, environmental and earth sciences, and re14 newable energy. For high-technology goods, such co15 operation may include export control-related trade in 

16 homeland, cyber, and counterterror security tech17 nologies, high technology manufacturing equipment, 

18 including machine tools, defense trade, and fostering 

19 collaboration in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, 

20 medical devices, and health-related information tech21 nology. 

22 (4) Encourage further development of advanced 

23 technology programs between the United States and 

24 India consistent with United States policy. 


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1 (5) Cooperate with the Government of India to 

2 develop mutually agreeable mechanisms to verify the 

3 security of defense articles and defense services and 

4 related technology, such as appropriate cyber secu5 rity and end use monitoring arrangements consistent 

6 with United States export control laws and policy. 

7 (6) Strengthen the effectiveness of the Defense 

8 Technology and Trade Initiative and the durability 

9 of the Department of Defense’s ‘‘India Rapid Reac10 tion Cell’’. 

11 (7) Approve and facilitate the transfer of ad12 vanced technology in the context of, and in order to 

13 satisfy, combined military planning with the Indian 

14 military for missions such as humanitarian assist15 ance and disaster relief, border management and se16 curity, and maritime domain awareness, consistent 

17 with United States conventional arms transfer policy 

18 and national security interests. 

19 (8) Promote policies that will encourage the ef20 ficient review and authorization of defense sales and 

21 exports to India. 

22 (9) Encourage greater government-to-govern23 ment and commercial military transactions between 

24 the United States and India. 


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1 (10) Promote additional foreign policy consulta2 tions between the United States and the Government 

3 of India, with a special emphasis on matters relating 

4 the Indian Ocean and Asia Pacific region and other 

5 areas. 

6 (11) Enhance scientific cooperation between 

7 India and the United States. 

8 (c) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out the 

9 actions described in subsection (b), the President is au10 thorized, subject to existing requirements of law and any 

11 applicable agreements or understandings between the 

12 United States and India, to share and exchange with India 

13 research, technology, intelligence, information, equipment, 

14 and personnel, including through sales, leases, or ex15 changes in kind, that the President determines will ad16 vance the national security interests of the United States. 

17 (d) COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

18 The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of 

19 the Advanced Research Projects Agency is authorized to 

20 enter into cooperative research pilot programs with India 

21 to enhance India’s capabilities in the following: 

22 (1) Border, maritime, and aviation security. 

23 (2) Explosives detection. 

24 (3) Humanitarian and disaster management. 

25 (4) Counterterrorism. 


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1 SEC. 102. ENHANCED DEFENSE COOPERATION BETWEEN 

2 THE UNITED STATES AND INDIA. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may, for the period 

4 described in subsection (c), include India as a country list5 ed in the provisions of law described in subsection (b) for 

6 the purposes of applying and administering such provi7 sions of law, if the President notifies the appropriate con8 gressional committees in writing at least 30 days before 

9 so including India as such country for such purposes. 

10 (b) PROVISIONS OF LAW.—The provisions of law de11 scribed in this subsection are— 

12 (1) subsections (b)(2), (d)(2)(B), (d)(3)(A)(i), 

13 and (d)(5) of section 3 of the Arms Export Control 

14 Act (22 U.S.C. 2753); 

15 (2) subsections (e)(2)(A), (h)(1)(A), and (h)(2) 

16 of section 21 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2761); 

17 (3) subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(6), (c), and 

18 (d)(2)(A) of section 36 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

19 2776); 

20 (4) section 62(c)(1) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

21 2796a(c)(1)); and 

22 (5) section 63(a)(2) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

23 2796b(a)(2)). 

24 (c) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.—India may be in25 cluded in the list of countries described in subsection (b) 

26 for a period of not more than 5 years. Such period may 


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1 be renewed for one or more subsequent periods of not 

2 more than 5 years if the President determines, with re3 spect to each such renewal, that it is in the national inter4 est of the United States to renew such period and notifies 

5 the appropriate congressional committees of such deter6 mination before the period to be renewed expires. 

7 SEC. 103. ELIGIBILITY OF INDIA FOR THE STRATEGIC 

8 TRADE AUTHORIZATION EXCEPTION TO CER9 TAIN EXPORT CONTROL LICENSING RE10 QUIREMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall include India 

12 on the list of countries eligible for the strategic trade au13 thorization exception under section 740.20(c)(1) of title 

14 15, Code of Federal Regulations, to the requirement for 

15 a license for the export, re-export, or in-country transfer 

16 of an item subject to controls under the Export Adminis17 tration Regulations if the President submits to the appro18 priate congressional committees a certification described 

19 in subsection (b). 

20 (b) CERTIFICATION DESCRIBED.—A certification de21 scribed in this subsection is a certification by the Presi22 dent that the Government of India meets the requirements 

23 necessary to become a party to the Missile Technology 

24 Control Regime, the Australia Group, the Nuclear Sup25 pliers Group, and the Wassenaar Arrangement. 


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1 SEC. 104. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT THE 

2 ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND OTHER 

3 SECTORS OF INDIA. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 

5 provide assistance to India to support the activities de6 scribed in subsection (b). 

7 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—The activities de8 scribed in this subsection are activities to— 

9 (1) promote economic growth, including 

10 through regional economic integration, innovation 

11 and entrepreneurship, including through support for 

12 technology hubs and the Government of India’s dig13 ital and skill India initiatives, and technical and vo14 cational education; 

15 (2) support greater access to clean water and 

16 sanitation, including through support for the Gov17 ernment of India’s Swachh Bharat campaigns, and 

18 improved access to public health services, including 

19 support for cooperative cancer research, prevention, 

20 control, and management and strengthened engage21 ment between the Centers for Disease Control and 

22 Prevention and India’s National Centre for Disease 

23 Control; 

24 (3) promote infrastructure development, includ25 ing through the establishment of an Infrastructure 

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1 pation of United States businesses in infrastructure 

2 projects in India, including in the establishment of 

3 ‘‘smart cities’’; 

4 (4) promote efficient urban energy infrastruc5 ture, the scaling of renewable energy integration into 

6 India’s power grid, and support for the Government 

7 of India’s efforts to upgrade its alternative energy 

8 institutes and to develop new energy innovation cen9 ters; 

10 (5) support India’s efforts to transition to a 

11 low-carbon and climate-resilient energy economy, in12 cluding financing to facilitate expanded cooperation 

13 and enhance United States private sector investment 

14 in Indian clean energy and other infrastructure 

15 projects; 

16 (6) further international military education and 

17 training opportunities for Indian military personnel 

18 consistent with United States policy; 

19 (7) scale innovation in technologies for the ben20 efit of the peoples of the United States and India 

21 and to harness innovation to solve global develop22 ment challenges; 

23 (8) further educational exchange with a focus 

24 on vocational education, increase the number of 

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1 mote the Global Initiative of Academic Networks to 

2 further academic exchanges with India, including 

3 technical support to the Indian Institutes of Tech4 nology (IITs) and other educational institutions, to 

5 strengthen research and entrepreneurship capabili6 ties; 

7 (9) expand joint development initiatives in third 

8 countries in a range of sectors, including agricul9 tural productivity, election monitoring, clean energy, 

10 health, women’s empowerment, and disaster pre11 paredness; 

12 (10) support the Government of India’s efforts 

13 to improve access to formal banking for India’s poor, 

14 including through India’s Jan Dhan initiative; and 

15 (11) support collaboration in hydrology and 

16 water studies and monsoon modeling. 

17 TITLE II—SENSE OF CONGRESS 

18 AND OTHER PROVISIONS 

19 SEC. 201. MEMBERSHIP OF INDIA IN ASIA-PACIFIC ECO20 NOMIC COOPERATION. 

21 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con22 gress that India’s entry into the Asia-Pacific Economic 

23 Cooperation (APEC) regional economic forum would ad24 vance the United States goal of increasing economic inte25 gration across Asia, further a constructive economic diaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 08, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5387.IH H5387

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1 logue with India, and serve as a catalyst for India to abide 

2 by international trade norms and continue its process of 

3 economic liberalization. 

4 (b) SECRETARY OF STATE ACTIONS.—The Secretary 

5 of State shall seek to— 

6 (1) work with the Government of India in order 

7 to ensure that India meets the necessary criteria for 

8 entry into APEC and develop a strategy to obtain 

9 membership status for India in APEC, including 

10 participation in related meetings, working groups, 

11 activities, and mechanisms; and 

12 (2) actively engage with and urge APEC mem13 ber states to support such membership status for 

14 India. 

15 SEC. 202. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON HIGH-STANDARD BILAT16 ERAL INVESTMENT TREATY. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (1) strengthening the trade relationship be19 tween the United States and India will have a mean20 ingful impact upon the people of the United States 

21 and India; and 

22 (2) in order to further strengthen and deepen 

23 the trade relationship, the United States and the 

24 Government of India should commence as soon as 


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1 possible negotiations to finalize a high-standard bi2 lateral investment treaty. 

3 SEC. 203. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CIVILIAN NUCLEAR CO4 OPERATION INITIATIVE. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the Government of India should fully imple7 ment the Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Initiative 

8 (CNCI); and 

9 (2) full implementation of the CNCI will lead to 

10 new economic opportunities in both India and the 

11 United States and expand India’s ability to provide 

12 clean energy to its growing population. 

13 SEC. 204. REPORT ON TOTALIZATION AGREEMENT WITH 

14 INDIA. 

15 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

17 of State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the So18 cial Security Administration, shall submit to the appro19 priate congressional committees a report that— 

20 (1) specifies the statutory and regulatory re21 quirements for entry into an agreement with India 

22 for the purpose of coordinating coverage under each 

23 country’s social security program (commonly re24 ferred to as a ‘‘totalization agreement’’); and 


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1 (2) evaluates the extent to which the social se2 curity program of India meets or does not meet 

3 these and other applicable requirements for such an 

4 agreement. 

5 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

6 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

7 a classified annex if necessary. 

Æ 


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