SR1158 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1158 LRB103 42058 ECR 75282 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, India is the world's largest democracy and, along with the United States, upholds a system in which the supreme power to govern is invested in the people; and

WHEREAS, India's independence was achieved with the principles of fairness, dignity, peace, and democracy in mind; and

WHEREAS, Our nations, both former British colonies, and peoples have forged a close relationship due to our shared beliefs in these and other ideals; and

WHEREAS, The strong relationship between the United States and India, based on mutual trust and respect, enables close collaboration across a broad spectrum of strategic interests, including counterterrorism, regional economic development, human rights, and scientific research; and

WHEREAS, The United States and India have balanced, growing, and mutually beneficial trade and investment ties that create jobs in both countries; and

WHEREAS, Americans of Indian descent have made lasting contributions to the social and economic fabric of the United States and in Illinois, with Chicago and its surrounding suburbs home to the second-largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the country; and

WHEREAS, August 15, 2024 marks the 77th anniversary of India's independence from British rule by the signing of the Indian Independence Act in 1947, which partitioned what was then British India into the two separate states of India and Pakistan and established a free and independent Indian nation following the long struggle of the Indian Independence Movement; and

WHEREAS, It is fitting and proper to celebrate with the Indian people and to reaffirm the democratic principles on which our two great nations were born; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the 77th anniversary of India's Independence on August 15, 2024.