LA Pravasi Diwas promotes Diaspora reach to motherland
LOS ANGELES: Aiming to link the vast Indian Diaspora and other parts of the world with India, the two-day gala event “Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas” was officially launched on November 14 in Los Angeles. It was attended by hundreds of Indian-Americans from across the US. The RPBD and OIFC Business Meet were organized by Ministry of Overseas India Affairs in close coordination with the Embassy of India in USA, the Consulate General of India in San Francisco; and the Indian Associations in USA.
Los Angeles is only the second US city to host the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (RPBD), after New York. Previous venues for RPBD events were London, Sydney, Toronto, Singapore, Durban, Mauritius and The Hague.
RPBD LA was inaugurated by Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh. The theme of the two-day event was ‘The Indian Diaspora: Defining a New Paradigm in India-US Relationship,’ which aimed to capture the ethos of the India-US relationship. Attending the two-day event in place of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had to return mid-way from Dubai in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, Singh alleged that debate over intolerance in India was politically motivated and purposefully generated before the Bihar Assembly elections.
“Things in India have changed. After the new Modi led government came to power in India last year, the thrust of the Government of India has changed. Inclusiveness has become hallmark of government policies. The present climate that is being created in India is investor friendly, to ensure people feel confident in investing and to ensure that you reap the benefit of investing in India,” VK Singh said.
Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh told India Post that “There were focused discussions related to the policies in India, economic opportunities, plans of the government, measures taken on ease of doing business, Make in India, Digital India, Startup India and various other initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission, Namami Gange movement and to see how we can also involve the Indian Diaspora in these schemes.”
He also pointed out that Indian Americans were contributing to the US economy significantly and called on them to explore opportunities to engage in the new focus areas of Government of India via Digital India, Make in India, Start up India and Renewable energy.
The delegations from five States – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Haryana highlighted the investment opportunities in their States and the favorable business climate.
An eminent Indian-American community leader from Los Angeles and key sponsor, Mr Sunil Tolani of Prince Organization said the objective of the convention is to connect the Indian Diaspora with India, to provide a platform to the Indian community and to contribute to Indo-US ties. “Members of the Indian community had an opportunity to convey their concerns and aspirations to the Government of India and will explore ways to give back to the mother country,” he said.
Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
