Washington, May 19 (IANS) Republican Congressman Lance Gooden has welcomed the $275 million settlement between the US Treasury Department and Adani Enterprises Limited, calling it a “very positive step” for the India-US ties and accusing the previous Joe Biden administration of pursuing a politically motivated case against the Indian conglomerate.

“We’re very pleased with the outcome,” Gooden said in an exclusive interview with IANS. “It was unfortunate that Mr (Gautam) Adani had to go through this at all.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Monday that Adani Enterprises Limited agreed to pay $275 million to settle its potential civil liability over 32 alleged violations of Iran-related sanctions.

Gooden, who had earlier written to both the Biden Justice Department and Attorney General Pamela Bondi questioning the prosecution of the Adani Group, said he had repeatedly raised concerns with senior officials in the Trump administration.

“We reached out to the Biden DOJ and had no success,” he said. “It was one of the early issues that I brought to the Trump DOJ, and I know they have been looking carefully at it and have prioritised doing the right thing,” said Gooden.

The Texas congressman also gave credit to Indian-American businessman Arun Aggarwal for first bringing the issue to his attention.

“That’s something that was brought to me by a gentleman named Arun Aggarwal, who is Chair of the Texas Economic Development Corporation board of directors,” Gooden said. “He said, we have someone in India that is the victim of, I believe, a political prosecution by our Democrat Justice Department.”

Gooden said he believed the case risked discouraging Indian investment in the United States.

“I believed from the beginning that the right thing was to encourage Mr. Adani to invest in America and continue with the good work his company and his family have been doing across India,” he said.

Gooden also alleged political motivations behind the earlier prosecution. “I believe there were Soros links to those in the Justice Department that pushed for this…,” he told IANS.

He argued that the charges were announced “right after President Trump was elected, as if to discourage investment in a nation in a way that would help President Trump make good on one of his campaign promises, which was to make America great again.”

Asked about future investments by the Adani Group in the United States, Gooden said Texas could benefit significantly.

“Yes, I believe he will be investing in Texas and hopefully other states as well,” he said. “I think the United States and our workforce and our energy industry and various other industries that I know the Adani Group is involved in will stand to benefit.”

The congressman also strongly backed India-US relations, calling India “one of the few reliable partners America has in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“I love India. I have been to India many times,” he said. “I think the United States of America and India should have as strong a bond as any other nation in the world,” he told IANS.

—IANS

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