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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. President George W. Bush heads to India on Tuesday, few people in the United States will be paying closer attention to the trip than the nearly 2 million Americans of Indian origin.
On the trip, Bush will try to work through differences on a landmark accord to give India access to long-denied U.S. nuclear equipment and fuel to meet its soaring energy needs. A deal was reached in principle last July but has run into trouble.
Bush also will meet Indian business leaders amid a surge of U.S. job outsourcing to India and a 30 percent increase in U.S. exports there in the past year.
These issues are of intense interest to Americans of Indian origin, who are the country's fastest-growing ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, whose data shows they are far better educated and wealthier than the average U.S. citizen.
Well before the thaw in U.S.-India ties that began under Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, American officials and businesses recognized the importance of a community that punched well above its weight in U.S. society.
"The contribution of the Indian diaspora to the American technology revolution centered around Silicon Valley and elsewhere has been profound," said Josette Shiner, undersecretary of state for economic, business and agricultural affairs.
"Today Indian-American and Indian investors are a very influential presence in Washington, on Wall Street and in the media," she told a forum on Bush's upcoming India trip.
Indian-Americans are increasingly setting their sights on the attractive Indian economy and "creating an additional push on the Indian side for additional government reform there," said U.S.-India Business Council director Richard Rossow.
Many people he has worked with have taken advantage of the opportunities and returned to India to start companies, he said.
SPELLING BEE CHAMPS, MILLIONAIRES
According to figures compiled from census data by the U.S.-India Political Action Committee, Indian-Americans own 15 percent of Silicon Valley start-up firms, constitute 10 percent to 12 percent of U.S. medical doctors and control about 40 percent of the American hotel sector.
One in 10 Americans of Indian origin are millionaires, while the $60,093 median income of Indian-American families in 2000 was far above the U.S. average of $38,885. They post similarly striking educational statistics.
"Our children keep winning all the spelling bees and science contests," said Veena Merchant, a director of the Indian American Center for Political Awareness in Washington.
"When you put this entire package together, it is a very substantive community," she said.
New York Democrat Gary Ackerman, who co-chairs the House of Representatives U.S.-India Caucus, said he helped found the group that now has some 180 members and is the largest caucus in Congress in recognition of the growing importance of India and its diaspora.
"Indian-Americans were becoming more prominent in their success in various lines of endeavor and making themselves and issues important to them known," said Ackerman, whose district ranks fourth in Congress in terms of number of Indian voters.
Key issues for Indian-Americans include immigration policy, ensuring equal opportunities and fighting discrimination and hate crimes. They also focus on budding U.S.-India ties.
Merchant, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the commercial capital Mumbai, said that back in India "most people are expecting a lot to happen" during Bush's visit.
"My identity is Indian-American so I'm pleased as an Indian and I'm pleased as an American that there is a better understanding of India in America," she said.
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