By NIMMI RAGHUNATHAN
CERRITOS, CA – Navtej Sarna, India’s envoy to Washington, made his first visit since assuming office in 2016, to SoCal. In the end, what could have been a more meaningful interaction turned out to be a rushed one. Invited community members had made the trek to the Sheraton Hotel here, battling traffic on a working day...
CERRITOS, CA – Navtej Sarna, India’s envoy to Washington, made his first visit since assuming office in 2016, to SoCal. In the end, what could have been a more meaningful interaction turned out to be a rushed one. Invited community members had made the trek to the Sheraton Hotel here, battling traffic on a working day...
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but were unable to engage in any kind of dialog that an event like this could have made happen. Organizers led by the well-known and seasoned Inder Singh, had put together an event on Feb.13 that was conducive to networking and; a generous dinner that the Ambassador did not join in. India’s diplomat in his brief talk, promised to make nice and return to SoCal so he could spend more time with community members. The delay in coming to the west coast he stated was because of the new and different U.S. administration. Even for GOP members, it has been a new kind of administration he explained, as a ripple went through the audience.
He praised the Indian Diaspora and termed it as, “fully mature” and fully aware of its responsibilities in the role it plays in Indo-US relations. Indian-Americans, he said, were now part of the “brain gain” for India and not the feared “brain drain.” Just as the Gadar movement fought for India’s freedom from the shores of CA, he said the community still played the role of freedom fighters giving back to society and helping fight poverty, disease and hunger.
Earlier Inder Singh, in his capacity as the Executive Trustee of the GOPIO Foundation welcomed everyone and began by recognizing members in the audience. The task was continued by officials of other organizations who sat at the head table. It was a truncated effort with a firm eye on the clock. Various aspects of community excellence was touched upon: academia, philanthropy, science, business, etc. Singh also presented the book he has authored on achievers from various fields in SoCal to the Ambassador.
Those who spoke included Kewal Kanda, Treasurer GOPIO Intl.; Navin Gupta, Chairman, GOPIO LA Chapter; Sudip Gorakshakar, President NFIA; Dilip Butani, Chairman, FIACSC; Vasu Pawar, President, GOPIO Inland Empire Chapter; Ashok Patnaik, Chairman, UFICA; Ashok Madan, Former President, NFIA. There was a brief Q&A when the perennial query was raised: why is there no Indian consulate in L.A. despite several assurances to the contrary? This time no promises were made, with Sarna pointing out that India had one of the smallest diplomatic services in the world and was doing all it could to represent the nation and serve the communities around the world.
Business
Ambassador Sarna in his visit to Los Angeles and San Francisco held a series of meetings with business executives, think tanks and community leaders. Referring to his visit to Disney and his meeting with its chairman Andy Bird and vice president Alan Braverman, Sarna told news agencies that the company was very excited about India and the work they do in the country, from movies to their digital application and content creation.
Sarna attended a round table with the Bay Area Council and another one held by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum. American businesses, he opined, are uniformly positive about India’s reforms and GST. They are excited about new opportunities there, like healthcare. “Today we are the fastest growing economy in the world. We are set to become a $ 5 trillion economy in 2025,” he said.
BAY AREA
While in San Francisco, Sarna also visited the Ghadar Memorial which marks the important role played by the Ghadar party in India’s freedom struggle. He also visited the library at the University of California, Berkeley. The diplomat is also a published author and during his visit viewed parts of the South Asians in North America Collection, and other Library holdings on Sikhism.
He praised the Indian Diaspora and termed it as, “fully mature” and fully aware of its responsibilities in the role it plays in Indo-US relations. Indian-Americans, he said, were now part of the “brain gain” for India and not the feared “brain drain.” Just as the Gadar movement fought for India’s freedom from the shores of CA, he said the community still played the role of freedom fighters giving back to society and helping fight poverty, disease and hunger.
Earlier Inder Singh, in his capacity as the Executive Trustee of the GOPIO Foundation welcomed everyone and began by recognizing members in the audience. The task was continued by officials of other organizations who sat at the head table. It was a truncated effort with a firm eye on the clock. Various aspects of community excellence was touched upon: academia, philanthropy, science, business, etc. Singh also presented the book he has authored on achievers from various fields in SoCal to the Ambassador.
Those who spoke included Kewal Kanda, Treasurer GOPIO Intl.; Navin Gupta, Chairman, GOPIO LA Chapter; Sudip Gorakshakar, President NFIA; Dilip Butani, Chairman, FIACSC; Vasu Pawar, President, GOPIO Inland Empire Chapter; Ashok Patnaik, Chairman, UFICA; Ashok Madan, Former President, NFIA. There was a brief Q&A when the perennial query was raised: why is there no Indian consulate in L.A. despite several assurances to the contrary? This time no promises were made, with Sarna pointing out that India had one of the smallest diplomatic services in the world and was doing all it could to represent the nation and serve the communities around the world.
Business
Ambassador Sarna in his visit to Los Angeles and San Francisco held a series of meetings with business executives, think tanks and community leaders. Referring to his visit to Disney and his meeting with its chairman Andy Bird and vice president Alan Braverman, Sarna told news agencies that the company was very excited about India and the work they do in the country, from movies to their digital application and content creation.
Sarna attended a round table with the Bay Area Council and another one held by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum. American businesses, he opined, are uniformly positive about India’s reforms and GST. They are excited about new opportunities there, like healthcare. “Today we are the fastest growing economy in the world. We are set to become a $ 5 trillion economy in 2025,” he said.
BAY AREA
While in San Francisco, Sarna also visited the Ghadar Memorial which marks the important role played by the Ghadar party in India’s freedom struggle. He also visited the library at the University of California, Berkeley. The diplomat is also a published author and during his visit viewed parts of the South Asians in North America Collection, and other Library holdings on Sikhism.
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