The new Indian ambassador to the US and the outgoing DCM laud the community’s accomplishments.
By Surekha Vij
In an atmosphere full of enthusiasm and unity, the Indian American community of the metropolitan Washington, DC, area hosted a reception to welcome the new Ambassador of India to the United States Navtej Sarna, and to bid farewell to the Deputy Chief of Mission Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who is proceeding for his next assignment as High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka in a few weeks.
Sarna took charge as new Ambassador of India to the United States on November 5, 2016
More than 350 prominent members of the community attended the reception on December 4 at Waterford at Fair Oaks in Virginia, that contained a mix of both welcome and goodbye to two envoys and in one of the largest gatherings for an event like that.
Speaking at the occasion, Sarna congratulated the Indian American community for its outstanding success in many areas and praised their contributions in various fields and in strengthening Indo-US relationship.
At the event, he announced a fresh initiative to improve the consular service provided by the embassy, starting from the first week of January, 2017. The Embassy of India in Washington, DC, and the five consulates located in New York, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco will hold “Open House” once every fortnight wherein attendees will be able discuss with senior embassy/consulate officials various problems they are facing on passport, visa and OCI cards. The date and time of each Open House session will be posted on the website of the embassy and the consulates.
Sarna praised the outgoing DCM Sandhu, terming him a colleague and a friend who has been an absolutely committed to and completely focused on the job. “Since there is no rest for the best, he leaves as high commissioner to Sri Lanka, another challenging post,” Sarna added.
Coming back to Washington after 15 years, Sarna said he saw many friends among the audience. Things have hanged since he was posted here last time, when India was facing US sanctions over its nuclear tests. The bilateral relationship has improved tremendously, he said.
“I salute to the Indian community for making it possible,” Sarna said. “Today India and US are in close partnership.”
In his remarks, Sandhu also highlighted the role of the Indian American community in strengthening India-US relationship. He talked about the need to involve Indian American youths in strengthening the bilateral ties. “Each one of you is a success story and you are the actual ambassador,” he said.
Sandhu pointed out that Jewish Americans have programs that send their youths to Israel to help build rapport with that nation. Similarly, Indian Americans could send their young generation to India after finishing high school.
Former diplomat Dr. Har Swarup Singh introduced both Sarna and Sandhu.
The four-hour long program started with the singing of Indian and US national anthems by children, who also performed Ganesh vandana in classical Bharatnatyam style.
Other speakers included Dr Yogendra Gupta, the program coordinator, and community leaders such as Dr. Sambhu Banik, Jay Bhandari, Ashok Batra, Kripa S. Singh, Satish Korpe and Angela Anand.
Speaking on the occasion, Bryce Reeves, a candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia, said India and the United States have had diplomatic relationship since 1945 and both nations value democratic values and believe in as “opportunity, freedom and liberty.” He added: “Now we are strategic partners in many key areas, that’s even better.”