Sarna was speaking at an event hosted by India House Houston.
India’s Ambassador to the United States Navtej Sarna on Sunday praised Indian Americans for their contribution in strengthening the US-India bilateral relationship.
Sarna was speaking at an event hosted by India House Houston to honor Ian Grillot, the American, for his bravery. Grillot suffered bullet injuries during the Kansas bar shooting event, which left an Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, dead and his friend, Alok Madasani, critically injured.
“I have been fortunate to witness the remarkable shift in the US-India bilateral relationship. There is a clear signal that our ties are only going to get stronger,” Sarna said at the India House gala.
“I always think of this potential in two different directions, one is if you look back to it at: send back to India skills, experiences, technology, best practices that you have learnt or taught in your experiences here,” he added.
Sarna, who was the chief guest at the gala honoring Kansas “hero” Grillot, said that the Indian government recognizes the contribution of Indian American community in supporting the bilateral ties.
“If you continue to integrate and play a greater role in the country of your adoption, it can only help the India-US engagement. We have seen immense contribution of this community in any field. There is no reason to doubt ourselves, this is a hugely strong pillar of the India US relationship that will take us forward for everybody’s good,” said Sarna.
“We are all representatives of India as I am,” he added.
Sarna also visited the assembly and distribution unit of Mahindra USA along with Council General Anupam Ray and a delegation of Indo-American Chamber of Great Houston.
The Chief Executive of Mahindra USA, Man Iyer, welcomed the guests. Iyer said that the revenue of Mahindra in the coming three years is expected to touch $1 billion – double its current revenue.
“We are not here to outsource jobs. We are here to be local, to cooperate with universities and community colleges, and to promote development,” Iyer said. “If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere, but if you can sell in the US, you can sell anywhere in the world.”