As US-India ties face turbulence, American lawmakers honor pilot's courage

The TOI correspondent from Washington: In a rare gesture of congressional recognition for an Indian national, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has introduced a resolution honoring Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who helped prevent a suicidal terrorist attack aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Israel last week.The resolution, introduced Monday by New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer, with Republican Reps Michael McCaul of Texas and Don Bacon of Nebraska as cosponsors, praises Machchhar for what it calls “extraordinary courage in protecting every soul aboard his aircraft.”The honor comes even as relations between Washington and New Delhi have entered one of their more difficult periods in the Trump era, with disagreements over tariffs, India's purchase of Russian oil and wider geopolitical differences complicating what had been a steadily deepening strategic partnership.