Chicago: The Indian Consulate General in Chicago hosted a reception dinner at the Chicago Yacht Club to honor the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Arun Kumar Singh, on Thursday, August 27 evening.
This was the first visit of the Indian Ambassador to the city. The “Meet & Greet” event was well-planned and executed by the consulate team headed by the Indian Consul General, Dr Ausaf Sayeed. Top Indian-American business persons, social and community activists, along with other local dignitaries were invited for the dinner reception.
Ambassador Arun Singh, holding a Master’s degree in economics, has focused on Indian business development and investment. Earlier in the day, he already had a meeting with the top business persons and discussed more business opportunities between the United States and India.
Addressing the large gathering in his honor, the Ambassador said that the United States and India share much in common as the distinctive pluralistic nations. The two great democracies of the world share the same values of freedom, human rights, and multi-cultural societies. Like America, India stands for its multi-linguistic and pluralistic culture where 970 million Hindus live with 172 million Muslims, the second largest Muslim population in the world, 24 million Christians, and 19 million Sikhs and others.
He quoted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “Our differences do not divide us but define us…We grew up in the midst of diversity and differences,” he said, “and this is the message India sends to the world. The success of India is not important for India but for the world.” The Ambassador also hailed the Indian-American presence in many distinguished fields as doctors, hoteliers, professionals, and students.
Earlier, Consul General Dr Ausaf Sayeed welcomed all and introduced the Ambassador to the Indian-Americans of Chicago and others. He briefly spoke about the Ambassador’s previous foreign assignments. Singh took over in Washington in April of this year.
He was the Indian Ambassador in France before coming to the United States. Dr Sayeed also personally led the Ambassador to each table and introduced him to the Indian community members. Noted among the invited guests were Niranjan Shah, Balvinder Singh, Babu Patel, Iftekhar Shareef, Babu Verma, Keerthi Kumar Ravoori, and ethnic media persons.
A brief press conference was also scheduled soon after the dinner was finished. Local Indian media persons were introduced to the Ambassador and he shared his views on the H1 visa, economy, and business investment.
The Ambassador is also reported to have met the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, for business promotion and later, he delivered a keynote address at the World Business Round Table conference held in Chicago. Accompanied by Consul General Dr Ausaf Sayeed, the Ambassador also met and had productive discussions with Illinois Governor Brauce Rauner’s Economic Team led by James Schultz, Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity.
A.Q. Siddiqui
India Post News Service
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