WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback spoke today at the U.S.-India Business Council, calling for a change in U.S. policy towards India. Excerpts from his speech follow.

"The United States must encourage a broad, stable and improved relationship between our two nations,” Brownback said. “Unfortunately, the administration's India policy is too narrowly focused on one issue: getting India's signature on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Our relationship with India must not be held hostage to any single issue.

"The U.S. has real and legitimate political, economic and security interests with India and we need to understand and engage on all levels as soon as possible. Seizing the opportunity that we have to build greater ties should be one of our main foreign policy goals. We are, after all, the two most populous democratic nations in the world. Our relationship should be based on shared values and institutions, economic collaboration, including enhanced trade and investment, and the goal of regional stability across Asia – not on economic blackmail to sign a treaty the United States Senate may not even ratify.

“India's recent decision to go nuclear has its roots in the collapse of the Soviet Union, the growth of Chinese military power, and in the even more recent transfer of nuclear technology to India's neighbors on all sides. It is clear that India has reason to consider China to be a most serious security threat.

“We too are in the middle of a serious crisis in our relationship with China; yet at each turn the administration has been rewarding China – a country that has openly and continually challenged US interests and values – while first ignoring, and now punishing India. The inequity in this situation is both striking and counterintuitive. Why reward the country which is aggressively working against everything for which we stand, and at the same time punish and blackmail a country with which we share basic values and interests?

“China's transfer of technology to other countries, including Iran, although illegal under the Missile Technology Control Regime and other agreements, has attracted no penalties. The administration has turned a blind eye to Chinese violations of the NPT, and we have seen that the

-MORE-administration worked actively to ease the difficulty of sharing sensitive technology with the Chinese. Still, the U.S. has stuck to the letter of the law in denying India critical World Bank and IMF loans and access to critical safety-related equipment and spare parts for its ageing, civilian power plants.

“What is going on in China is not our only interest in India: America is India's largest trading partner. India is ethnically and religiously diverse as no other state: it boasts in addition to the large Hindu and Muslim populations, an important ancient Christian civilization that dates from St. Thomas, as well as one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. India straddles two oceans, and as such will be a pivotal player in world politics. It is hard to imagine how the U.S. can engage effectively in Asia without a stronger and more diverse relationship with India.

“Suspending economic sanctions will allow the U.S. to continue to engage with India on many fronts out of the shadow of CTBT. At the same time, we have provided the administration with waiver authority on dual use items, foreign military financing and foreign military sales. This should give the administration expanded tools to use in negotiations with India and to broaden the relationship.

“US economic sanctions on India make no sense. Our interests must address what is real. Instead of chastising India, the U.S. should be engaging India on a broad range of issues,” Brownback said.

Brownback chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. Last year the Congress passed a measure he introduced which provided the administration with a one-year presidential waiver for economic sanctions. Last week a Brownback-Roberts measure ending economic sanctions was passed in the Department of Defense appropriations bill.