A powerful US House of Representatives committee has passed the State Department Authorisation Bill, which include key provisions on India to address issues like terrorism, visa backlogs and HIV/AIDS funding in the country. The US House International Relations Committee (HIRC) passed the Bill, which contained three provisions on India mooted by the US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), thus clearing the first step in the legislative process. The Bill contains provisions to address the issue of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, allocation of $2 million for HIV/AIDS research and mitigation strategies in India and providing a new consular office for the US embassy in India to clear visa backlogs. Observing that the technology peddled by Pakistan’s disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan originated in China, a provision in the Bill mooted by Congressman Brad Sherman (Democrat) noted the ‘‘dangers’’ of a close military partnership between the two countries. A second provision, added by Congressman Tom Lantos (Democrat) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican) said military sales to Pakistan should be cleared only after Islamabad’s full compliance on terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Bill included a provision requiring the US President to report to Congress on the extent to which the government of Pakistan has restored a fully functional democracy. —PTI
