The IUFP Roundtable

IUFP Roundtable Meet with Senator Sam Brownback and Amb. Robert Blackwill
December 12, 2002

Senator Brownback making his point during the meeting. Sitting on his right is Mr. Kapil Sibal, MP and on his left are Amb. R. Blackwill; Mr. Rajiv Shukla, MP; and Mr. R S Lodha, President, FICCI.

A view of the IUFP Roundtable meeting in progress

The third in the series of “Roundtable Meetings” was held on December 12, 2002 with Senator Sam Brownback and Ambassador Robert Blackwill. In the meeting apart from issues such as Iraq, combating cross-border terrorism, trade, military ties impacting Indo-US relations which came up for discussion, Senator Brownback brought up the important yet unnoticed issue of trafficking in women and children, a global problem which requires immediate attention. The Senator also informed the meeting that India’s track record vis-à-vis trafficking in women and children could invite punitive sanctions under a new US law, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. He, therefore, emphasized the need to address the issue seriously.

Members of Parliament, such as, Mr. Kapil Sibal, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Mr. Rajeev Shukla, Mrs. Krishna Bose, Mr. Prem Chand Gupta, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan and Mr. Swadesh Chatterjee, Dr. A.C. Muthiah, President FICCI and Mr.R.S. Lodha, former President, FICCI, also attended the meeting.