Events

Past Events

Annual Door Knock to Washington DC 2025

The annual AMCHAM India door knock delegation to Washington DC was led by AMCHAM’s Chairman, Mr. Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India and South Asia, from June 9th – 13th, 2025. The main purpose of the door knock was to inform U.S. policy-makers on issues impacting U.S. investments in India. AMCHAM India’s door knock whitepaper provided an industry perspective on sector wise opportunities and challenges for U.S industry operating in India.

The delegation met with over 33 departments/offices which included 14 Senators and Representatives (and/or their staff), in addition to meetings with think tanks and important professionals that shared their views on the bilateral relationship in the current geopolitical scenario.

The main topics of discussions with government officials included:

  • U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology)
  • Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) ongoing talks
  • U.S.-India TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative
  • Supply chain diversification
  • Reducing dependence on China
  • Cyber security and digital tech collaboration
  • U.S.-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure
  • Opportunities in co-production and co-development
  • Security in the Indo-Pacific
  • Patent linkages
  • Regulatory harmonization in pharmaceuticals and medical devices
  • Food security challenges
  • Importance of agriculture sector in the bilateral relationship
  • Data security
  • Ease of doing business challenges in India
  • Continued support on making India a MRO (maintenance and repair overhaul) hub

On Monday morning, June 9th, the door knock officially kicked off with an informal internal briefing followed by a roundtable with India experts from think tanks, hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), led by Mr. Rick Rossow, Senior Adviser and Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics, CSIS with Mr. Atman Trivedi, Albright Stonebridge Group, Ms. Trisha Ray, Atlantic Council, Ms. Tanvi Madan, Brookings Institution, Ms. Shayerah Akhtar, Congressional Research Service (CRS), Ms. Akanksha Golchha, CSIS, Dr. Shashwat Kumar, CSIS, Mr. Gaurav Sansanwal, CSIS, Ms. Sakshi Kataria, CSIS, Mr. Abhinav Subramaniam, CSIS, Mr. Arun Sharma, Grovepike Associates, Mr. Sameer Boray, Information Technology Industry Council, Mr. Kumar Deep, Information Technology Industry Council, Ms. Ananya Chhaochharia, The Asia Group and Ms. Nicole McCloskey, The Asia Group.

In the afternoon the delegation met with Mr. Robert Garverick, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Ms. Bethany Poulos Morrison, Deputy Assistant Secretary for India, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs and Ambassador Steve Lang, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Ms. Jessica E. Berlow, Food Security Division Chief, Office of Agricultural Policy, Mr. Mark Simeone, EB CHIPS-ITSI Program Analyst, Office of Multilateral Trade Affairs and Ms. Mallika Iyer, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, amongst other State Department officials, joined the meeting. Next the delegation had an interaction with Ms. Kate Kalutkiewicz, Senior Managing Director, Trade Practice & McLarty Inbound, McLarty Associates and Mr. Perry Spiegel, Manager, Trade Practice, McLarty’s Associates. Members of the delegation met with Representative Rich McCormick (R-GA-07), Co-Chair Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and Mr. Ayush Nallapally, Legislative Correspondent.

On Tuesday, June 10th, the delegation had a roundtable session experts at The Heritage Foundation: Mr. Jeff Smith, Director, Asian Studies Center, Dr. James Carafano, Senior Counselor to the President and Richardson Fellow, Mr. Miles Pollard, Policy Analyst, Economic Policy, Center for Data Analysis, Ms. Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Director, Center for Climate, Energy, and Environment, Ms. Kriti Upadhyaya, Visiting Fellow, India Policy, Asian Studies Center, Mr. Bryan Burack, Senior Policy Advisor for China & the Indo-Pacific, Asian Studies Center and Mr. Yuichi Kakutani, Policy Advisor, China & the Indo-Pacific, Asian Studies Center. Next, on Capitol Hill, the delegation met with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Co-Chair, Senate India Caucus, Mr. Micah Barbour, Senior Policy Advisor and Mr. Zach Lewis, Legislative Assistant. The delegation met Representative Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13) and Mr. Joshua Buckingham, Legislative Assistant/Correspondent. The delegation met with Representative Jefferson Shreve (R-IN-6). The agriculture sector delegates met with Dr. Brigit Moore, Food Security Policy Advisor, Office of Global Food Security (E/GFS), U.S. Department of State.

Defense delegates met with Mr. Michael J. Vaccaro, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Trade Controls, Bureau of Political Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Ms. Catherine Hamilton, Director of Licensing, Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, (PM/DDTC), Mr. Sho J. Morimoto, Chief of Sea, Land, and Air Systems Division (PM/DDTC) and Mr. Robert Thompson, Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers, South Asia portfolio, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. Then the defense members met with Mr. J. Mario Miranda, Executive Director (Acting), Navy International Programs Office (NIPO), Mr. Timothy Smith, Deputy Director, INOPACOM Division, NIPO, Captain Michael Farmer, Director, Security Cooperation, Global Foreign Mility Sales Programs, NIPO and Cdr Jun Chen, India Country Program Director, NIPO.

On Wednesday morning, June 11th, the delegation met with Mr. Jeffrey Kessler, Under Secretary, Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce along with Mr. Robert Burkett, Chief of Staff, BIS and Mrs. Robby Stephany Saunders, Senior Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary, BIS. On the Hill, the delegation met with Representative Ami Bera (D-CA-06) Ranking Member, Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific and Mr. Gaurav Bansal, Foreign Affairs Advisor. Next, there was a meeting with Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Mr. Abi Zarzar, Military Legislative Assistant and Mr. Warner Allison, Policy Advisor. Defense delegates met with Mr. Fleet White, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Security, Bureau of Political Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State and Mr. Robert Thompson, Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers, South Asia portfolio, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs while agriculture delegates met with Ms. Courtney Knupp, Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Mr. Peter Laudeman, Senior Policy Advisor, Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, USDA.

Later in the afternoon, the delegation met with Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10). Some delegates met with U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) officials: Mr. Mateo Goldman, Senior Vice President for Investments, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Ms. Allison Iannarino, Acting Managing Director for Asia, ICT and Infrastructure, Mr. Ean Hundley, Director, ICT Policy, Office of Foreign Policy and Mr. Brian Whitesides, Director, Office of Infrastructure. Defense delegates went to the Pentagon for a meeting with RDML Eric Ver Hage, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International and Industry Engagement, U.S. Department of Defense, Mr. Matt Howard, Acting Director, International Cooperation, Ms. Monika Jones, Desk Officer, International Cooperation, Ms. Natalia Castillo, Desk Officer, International Cooperation, Mr. Jacob Finke, Program Analyst, Industry Engagement and Mr. Kenneth Nienhuser, Program Analyst, Industry Engagement. The day concluded with a meeting with Dr. Ajay Kumar, Minister Commerce, Embassy of India.

On Thursday morning, June 12th , the delegation met with Mr. Ashok Pinto, Executive Director, SelectUSA and performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of Assistant Secretary for Global Markets and Director General, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, Global Markets, ITA, U.S. Department of Commerce, Mr. Bradley A. McKinney, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of the U.S. Commercial Service, Ms. Noor Sclafani, International Trade Specialist and Ms. Naomi Wiegler, Deputy Director, Office of South Asia, ITA/Global Markets. Next the delegation met with Ms. Jennifer Bachus, Acting Head of Bureau, Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, U.S. Department of State. The delegation met with Mr. Brendan Lynch, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia and Ms. Emily Ashby, Director for South Asia, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

A small group of delegates on Capitol Hill met with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), Mr. Chris Anderson, National Security Advisor and Mr. Dan Gerig, Legislative Director, followed by a meeting with Meeting with Representative Young Kim (R-CA-40) Chair, Subcommittee East Asia and Pacific and Mr. Jaliya Nagahawatte, Policy Advisor. Next was a meeting with Representative Marc Veasey (D-TX-33) Vice Co-Chair, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and Mr. Luke Dube, Legislative Director, followed by a meeting with Representative John McGuire (R-VA-05) and Mr. John M. Castillo, Legislative Director.

Later in the afternoon, the delegation met with Mr. Thomas Hardy, Director of Policy and Program Management, U.S. Trade and Development Agency and Ms. Verinda Fike, Regional Director, Indo-Pacific, USTDA. Defense delegates met with Mr. Michael Laychak, Director for the Defense Technology Security Administration (DTSA), U.S. Department of Defense, Mr. Scott Nelson, Deputy Assistant Director, Mr. Chris Gonzaludo, Export Control Analyst, Mr. Rizwan (Riz) Ramakdawala, Manned Aircraft Division Chief, Mr. Tyler Abercrombie, Regional Foreign Affairs Advisor and Ms. Dara Sanders, Export Control Analyst. Delegates from the agriculture sector met with Mr. Jason Hafemeister, Acting Associate Administrator, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Mr. Ross Medico, Trade Policy Officer for Japan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, G7/G20, Trade Policy & Geographic Affairs | Asia Pacific Division, USDA, FAS. Healthcare sector delegates met with Meeting with Mr. Jonathan Goldberg and Mr. Michael Finn, International Trade Specialists, Digital Health, Medical Devices, Healthcare Services, Office of Health Industries, Industry & Analysis, ITA, U.S. Department of Commerce. To conclude the day, the delegation met with Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mr. Shervin Ghaffari, Senior Legislative Assistant, Foreign Policy/Defense.

On Friday, June 13th, the delegation met with Mr. Brandon Gindt, National Security Advisor in the Office of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). The delegation met with Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC-02), Mr. Michael MacHarg III, Policy Advisor & Deputy Communications Director and Dr. Paul Massaro, Staff Director, U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to conclude the door knock. 

Door Knock Delegation 2025 

  1. Mr. Salil Anil Gupte, President, Boeing India & South Asia (Chairman, AMCHAM)
  2. Mr. Alain Garcia, Vice President, International Business Development – India, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, The Boeing Company (Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM)
  3. Mr. Nilesh Christian, Deputy Chief, Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy, New Delhi
  4. Mr. Saurabh Singh, Head Digital and AI Policy, India & South Asia, Amazon Web Services India Pvt. Ltd.
  5. Mr. Bhanu Saini, Head Public Policy for Public Sector and Cyber Security, India & South Asia, Amazon Web Services India Pvt. Ltd.
  6. Mr. Pankaj Kaushik, Head Business Development & Government Relations, BAE Systems India (Services) Private Limited
  7. Ms. Mahima, Assistant Vice President, Blackstone Advisors India Pvt. Ltd.
  8. Mr. Dhritiman Biswas, Senior Director, Government Relations – South Asia, Cargill
  9. Mr. Tabrez Ahmad, Group Director GA, Asia Pacific and Japan, Dell Technologies
  10. Mr. John Schaeffler, Executive Director, Government Affairs & Policy and Vice President, GE HealthCare Foundation, GE HealthCare
  11. Ms. Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Director – Govt. Affairs and Policy, India & South Asia, GE Healthcare
  12. Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google India Pvt. Ltd.
  13. Mr. Ankur Malhotra, Director, Government Relations, Honeywell
  14. Ms. Jyotsna Ghoshal, Enterprise Lead, Government Affairs & Policy India and Head India Community Impact, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd.
  15. Ms. Poorvi Chothani, Esq., Managing Partner, LawQuest Global PLLC (Florida) and LawQuest (Mumbai)
  16. Mr. William Blair, Regional Chief Executive, Asia & India, Lockheed Martin Global Inc.
  17. Ms. Praveena Bhimavarapu, SVP – Country Head, Maximus India
  18. Mr. Ankur Modi, Area VP South Asia & Indochina, Philip Morris International
  19. Ms. Erum Jilani, Director Asia Pacific Global Government Relations, RTX
  20. Mr. Terry McNaughton, Sr. Director, Government Relations, Suntory Global Spirits
  21. Mr. Jay Pittas, Board of Directors, Tecumseh Products Company
  22. Mr. Sandeep Chaudhry, Managing Director, Tecumseh Products India Pvt. Ltd.
  23. Mr. Rajan Aiyer, Vice President & Managing Director, South Asia, Trimble
  24. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM India
  25. Ms. Valerie Swope, Program Coordinator, AMCHAM India
  26. Wg Cdr Rajiv Anand, Senior Director, AMCHAM India
  27. Ms. Komple Sharma, Director, AMCHAM India
  28. Mr. Pranav Mishra, Director, AMCHAM India