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 consider-
ation 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Special Global Partnership with India Act of 2016’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definition. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
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. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The peoples of the United States and India 
have a long history of friendship and the interests 
of the peoples of the United States, India, and the 
rest of the world will benefit from a stronger United 
States-India partnership. 
(2) President Clinton’s historic visit to India in 
March 2000 and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari 
Vajpayee’s reciprocal visit to the United States in 
September 2000 served as a key platform for the 
growth of the United States-India partnership. 
(3) Leaders in both countries belonging to both 
major political parties have prioritized the United 
States-India relationship including United States 
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Indian Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and 
Narendra Modi. 
(4) The November 2001 agreement establishing 
a strategic partnership between India and the 
United States was an inflection point in the United 
States-India relationship. The January 2004 forma-
tion of the Next Steps in the Strategic Partnership 
with India (NSSP) maintained forward momentum 
in the United States-India relationship and ex-
panded cooperation in civilian nuclear activities, 
space programs, and high-technology trade. 
(5) The agreement to conclude the path-break-
ing Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Initiative (CNCI) 
was a key outcome of the NSSP and served as noti-
fication of the end of a cold war era in the United 
States-India relationship. 
(6) The rise of a democratic India as an Indo- 
Pacific power is in the national security, political, 
and economic interest of the United States. 
(7) United States-India security cooperation 
has helped promote India’s role as a security pro-
vider in the Indian Ocean region with direct benefit 
to the United States and other countries, such as 
Yemen, where in April 2015 the Government of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
India assisted in evacuating United States citizens 
from the country. 
(8) India has become an instrumental partner 
in delivering humanitarian and disaster relief in the 
Asia-Pacific region, including following the 2004 In-
dian Ocean Tsunami, and in the aftermath of the 
April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, where the Indian 
Air Force used United States-origin C–130 and C– 
17 aircraft to evacuate Indian, American, and third- 
country nationals and send relief supplies. 
(9) Since 2002, the United States and India 
have held a series of increasingly complex combined 
bilateral exercises involving all military services. 
Such engagement has been a key aspect of United 
States-India relations in recent years—India now 
conducts more exercises and personnel exchanges 
with the United States than with any other country. 
(10) The June 2015 renewal of a ten-year de-
fense framework agreement meant to expand bilat-
eral security cooperation demonstrates the continued 
growth of the defense cooperation between India and 
the United States. 
(11) As a result of the Defense Technology and 
Trade Initiative, established in 2012, United States 
and Indian businesses have partnered on the code-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
velopment of defense equipment, establishing a base 
from which to launch codevelopment and coproduc-
tion efforts in the future and expand India’s defense 
industrial base. 
(12) Two-way trade between India and the 
United States continues to expand, supporting thou-
sands of United States jobs, and has in only a dec-
ade nearly tripled from $36 billion in 2005 to over 
$107 billion in 2015. 
(13) The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 
(APEC) regional economic forum supports sustain-
able economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pa-
cific region. India’s geography provides an avenue 
for continued trade and investment partnerships 
with APEC member states. 
(14) India became an APEC observer in No-
vember 2011 at the invitation of the United States, 
and India’s achieving full membership furthers re-
gional economic integration and is in the interest of 
the United States. 
(15) India’s ‘‘Look East, Act East’’ strategy to 
expand economic engagement with East and South-
east Asia demonstrates its effort to pursue external 
oriented, market-driven economic policies and aligns 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
very closely with the United States strategy to rebal-
ance its Asia Pacific Strategy. 
(16) India is the world’s seventh largest econ-
omy in nominal terms and the third largest economy 
based on purchasing-power parity. 
(17) A significant number of Indian nationals 
contribute, according to some estimates, upwards of 
$1,000,000,000 into the Social Security system of 
the United States. 
(18) The United States and India have made 
tremendous strides in science and technology col-
laboration, including in the Moon and Mars explo-
ration, high-energy physics, and in joint efforts to 
develop a High Intensity Superconducting proton ac-
celerator. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
Congress declares that India is a Special Global Part-
ner of the United States. 
TITLE I—ACTIONS TO ADVANCE 
THE SPECIAL GLOBAL PART-
NERSHIP WITH INDIA 
SEC. 101. ACTIONS TO ADVANCE THE SPECIAL GLOBAL 
PARTNERSHIP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall seek to take 
the actions described in subsection (b) with respect to ad-
vancing the United States-India relationship. 
(b) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions referred to in 
subsection (a) are the following: 
(1) Institutionalize an annual strategic and 
commercial dialogue with India to be held at the 
ministerial level. 
(2) Institutionalize an annual defense policy 
dialogue to coordinate with the Ministry of Defense 
for the Government of India on— 
(A) combined military planning for mis-
sions such as humanitarian assistance and dis-
aster relief, maritime domain awareness, and 
other missions deemed to be in the national se-
curity interests of both countries; 
(B) defense procurement planning to in-
clude humanitarian assistance and disaster re-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
lief, border maintenance and control, and mari-
time domain awareness; and 
(C) promoting better alignment among In-
dia’s export control and procurement regimes 
with those of the United States and the multi-
lateral control regimes. 
(3) Expand cooperation with the Government of 
India in the defense, intelligence, civilian sectors, in-
cluding with respect to high-technology goods, space 
exploration, climate change, agriculture, innovation, 
entrepreneurship, human rights, women’s empower-
ment, sport, medicine, infrastructure, high-energy 
physics, environmental and earth sciences, and re-
newable energy. For high-technology goods, such co-
operation may include export control-related trade in 
homeland, cyber, and counterterror security tech-
nologies, high technology manufacturing equipment, 
including machine tools, defense trade, and fostering 
collaboration 
in 
biotechnology, 
pharmaceuticals, 
medical devices, and health-related information tech-
nology. 
(4) Encourage further development of advanced 
technology programs between the United States and 
India consistent with United States policy. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(5) Cooperate with the Government of India to 
develop mutually agreeable mechanisms to verify the 
security of defense articles and defense services and 
related technology, such as appropriate cyber secu-
rity and end use monitoring arrangements consistent 
with United States export control laws and policy. 
(6) Strengthen the effectiveness of the Defense 
Technology and Trade Initiative and the durability 
of the Department of Defense’s ‘‘India Rapid Reac-
tion Cell’’. 
(7) Approve and facilitate the transfer of ad-
vanced technology in the context of, and in order to 
satisfy, combined military planning with the Indian 
military for missions such as humanitarian assist-
ance and disaster relief, border management and se-
curity, and maritime domain awareness, consistent 
with United States conventional arms transfer policy 
and national security interests. 
(8) Promote policies that will encourage the ef-
ficient review and authorization of defense sales and 
exports to India. 
(9) Encourage greater government-to-govern-
ment and commercial military transactions between 
the United States and India. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:43 Jun 08, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5387.IH
H5387
rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS