Surendra Ullal & Ramesh Soparawala
Diwali Phir Aagayi Sajani, an old Indian film song is alive even today and with this hope all of us, world over, should be heading for better time and days in coming year.
On the face of it and having a cursory look at the world scene this sounds a bit optimistic but it is human nature to wish and expect better days all the time and we at India Post also feel the same. We take this opportunity to wish HAPPY DIWALI & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS, ADVERTISERS, PATRONS & WELL WISHERS. We harbor no ill will nor entertain any negative feelings against anybody anywhere, and this has been our cardinal belief.
As is our tradition over the past many years, we tap our readers for their opinion on many a thing and this time we asked them for their views on improving Indo-US relations over the coming years. Better ties between the two biggest Democracies of the world are basic for ensuring world peace and improved economic lot of all across the globe.
We are not oblivious to the fact that there are interested parties and groups that are bent on tarnishing India’s image in this county and the world over. There are deeply entrenched groups in India and other countries, serving as tools of strong vested interests in promoting anti-India views besides perpetuating hatred against the present Indian government headed by Narendra Modi.
And it was in this contest that we sought the views of our readers on this matter. Happily most of them did not waste this opportunity by vexing their hate against anybody and were positive in their approach suggesting a greater involvement in local mainstream politics. Happily they refrained from praising or criticizing the present Indian government headed by PM Modi
Instead of dilly-dallying, we just share their views with others and hope that this paves way of better understanding NRIs and their core beliefs in general.
Dr Bharat Barai, a renowned oncologist in Indiana and Chicagoland besides being actively involved in community affairs said that Indian Americans and for that matter all NRIs across the world can play a significant role in promoting better ties between the USA and India. This is important as that will significantly help reducing the world tension and help it grow economically as well.
The first and for most thing that crops in my mind is they (NRIs), should eschew narrow mindedness and have a broad based view of all in the society irrespective of their religions and other affiliations. This would help them have their views better heard in all quarters. They should keep in mind that one of the essential principles of all religions emanating in India is Vasudhaive Kutumbakam.
Secondly, in a democratic set up that both India and US can proudly profess to have, it is the voice of the people that is heard at all levels of administration. Indian Americans would endeavor to have their voice heard at all levels of administration and that can be achieved with an active involvement in mainstream politics.
If they cannot be in a position to get elected at top positions in the administration, they would strive to support candidates seeking elections who would be supportive of better Indo-US ties and those who are not anti India in their stance and beliefs. The use and misuse of social media for nefarious ends by interested groups of vested interests inside and outside the country, such activities should be discouraged and met against effectively.
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Dr Dayal Meshri, a scientist turned successful businessman and entrepreneur said, in his view, in spite of an excellent relationship between India and USA, a lot of work needs to be done by the residents of Indian origin in USA, as well as those living in other parts of the world.
They are all in a way unofficial ambassadors serving motherland and the country of residence (an adopted motherland). This can be done by each individual, independently as well as a group collectively.
India needs, not only moral support of USA, but the firm commitment to help it build its own defense industries and defense weapons to protect the oldest civilization and preserve the largest democratic country in the world. The USA should not leave any stone unturned to teach a lesson to China, that the self-centered, greedy, aggressive malicious dragon. It simply cannot destroy the fountain of Asian democracy.
To achieve this goal, all Indians need to work in groups as well as individually. The two most powerful groups of Indian origin are AAPI (17% physicians of Indian origin) and AAHOA (60% of USA hotels owned by the group). They should contact and cultivate their Senators, Congressmen, Administrators as well as general public, and make them realize that India is the only power that can hold China within its boundary.
This is only possible if India gets an advanced weapon system, the most modern equipment and technology to be made in India. Make India as self-reliant as China is now.
On the other hand, we should help our candidates for Senate, Congress, Governorship and Mayoral positions, while other Indian technical groups such as professors, IT people and businessmen should take their skills to India. Either share with local Indian organizations or establish their own business in India or train Indian students in USA plants to make sure they intend to return to their homeland.
China recently announced a very scary border security policy. This shows the dragon’s hidden hunger has appeared in the open. How it intends to grab the land of neighbors. China is a war monger. They can sacrifice 2 to 5 million soldiers to grab a land.
To China, land is more important as it can feed you or give you minerals for centuries, while humans last only one century or less. No one knows how many millions died in China with coronavirus before the world came to know. So, in war, a loss of a few million lives is no big deal for China. It is time for the world to wake up and boycott any item that says, “Made in China”.
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Dr Kiran Patel a front ranking community activist in Florida and former head of AAPI, said that actions speak louder than words.
The second and the third generation Indian Americans financially and intellectually being in a league of their own, can contribute in three ways for promoting Indo US relations
The First and foremost important step is by Investing in India and making India front ranking, economically strong country. This will help it being an alternate choice to China in all sectors.
The Second and a more dominant role, get into active involvement in local mainstream politics. They would get involved more aggressively in Local, State and Federal politics, which could help shaping the country’s policy.
The third step involves a steadfast role in academic dominance and in a strong professional workforce touching and impacting millions of lives daily.
As said earlier, the actions speak louder than word and mere talk will not help.
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ANIL Shah, CEO and President of World Money Exchange, head quartered in Chicago observed that Indians in USA need to get united under one roof to have its voice heard at the Federal, State and the local levels of administration. It is found and patently observed that the so called leaders are more interested in having their pictures taken and have them put on Facebook and other social media outlets without doing much for the community as such. This perspective needs to be changed for the better. If this is done everybody including India, the country of origin, and USA, the country they reside in, would benefit. This in a way will also reflect on better bilateral relations between the two countries.
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SUNIL SHAH, FOUNDER PRESIDENT F.I.A. CHICAGO, said that’s since India’s Independence 1947-2021, ties with US have weathered cold war-era distrust &estrangement over India’s nuclear program. Relations have warmed in recent years & cooperation have strengthened across a range of economic and political areas.
The US-India partnership is founded on a shared commitment to freedom, democratic principles, equal treatment of all citizens, human rights & rule of the law.
The strong people-to-people ties between our countries, reflected in a 4-million plus strong Indian American diaspora, are a tremendous source of strength for the partnership.
Indian Americans are among the wealthiest &highly educated immigrants in the country. Ratio of self-employment & entrepreneurship are higher at both the high and low scale, reflecting engagement in the both hospitality and retail, as well as medicine and the high-tech industry.
Though Indians make up 1% of the population, 30% and more of the fortune 500 companies have Indians as their CEO’S and thus have proved that Indians are very important engine of economic growth in USA.
Helping increase voter turnout, political donations, boosting a number of Indian Americans entering the electoral politics, would increase the confidence and strengthen the foundation of strong Indo-US ties.
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Thakar Basati, leading Sikh community leader in Chicagoland said that India has to pay attention to NRI image overseas.
It could involve even its handling of Covid crisis or shortage of Oxygen. Anytime a national tragedy happens, it gets international attention and splashed all over the world. The people across the countries put all sort of questions to NRIs and in absence of proper explanation, it tarnishes India’s image.
India getting lower GDP or unfavorable poverty index are also of concern. Many NRIs want to stay in touch with India, have properties there, but hesitant to deal with all formalities. The Indian Government should make it easy to deal with all property issues and also make it easy to sell off properties.
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BADRI ALI GODHARAWALA, a self made businessman and real estate magnate said, India is the largest democracy of the world. It has the second largest population in the world after China.
Since independence India has struggled to be best among the third world countries and has really worked hard to be in first rank among the super powers. No doubt India has attained a great success in becoming a super power among the giants of the world. Today India is a force to reckon with.
The foreign policy of India has been stable and has a consistency in its approach with other countries of the world.
Its relation with USA has remained warm and has been productive in recent years. As Indians in USA, much depends on us to help to improve the relationship and to see that the improved relationship is beneficial to all of us.
We can contribute a lot to improve the relationship by remaining neutral on many complex internal issues of USA. We should be beyond the party politics of USA and focus on the relationship based on equality and sovereignty. Indians are highly educated and know that the improved relationship with USA is very important for the progress and prosperity of Indians in USA and for India as a whole!
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Falguni Rana, a medical personnel in Chicagoland said that ‘India is Incredible’ and Indians are definitely brainy and innovative. Indian Americans are now the second-largest immigrant group in the United States. Their growing political influence and the role the diaspora plays in Indian foreign policy therefore raises important questions—about how Indian Americans view India, the political changes underway there, and the course of US-India relations.
These high-octane gatherings, however, naturally lead to a series of questions: How do Indians in America regard India, and how do they remain connected to developments there? What are their attitudes toward Indian politics and changes underway in their ancestral homeland? And what role, if any, do they envision for the United States in engaging with India?
The data show that Indians, by and large, remain deeply connected to their homeland. But the intensity of this connection and the precise channels through which it operates vary greatly across the Indian American population. Indian Americans hold mixed opinions on the present trajectory of Indian democracy. While a bare majority appears largely supportive of Modi and his government, a significant minority is not.
While Indian Americans tend to have more conservative opinions on policy issues in India than on those in the United States, they are less pro-Modi compared to Indians living in India and less conservative in their views.
Fifty-nine percent of foreign-born Indian Americans report feeling either extremely or very connected to India, compared to 36 percent of US-born Indian Americans. In all categories but one, foreign-born Indian Americans are more likely to report personal engagement than their US-born counterparts. Thirty percent of foreign-born Indian Americans report traveling to India in the past one year, compared to 18 percent of U.S.-born Indian Americans. In terms of communicating with friends and family in India 61 percent of foreign-born Indian Americans report doing so at least once a month, compared to 41 percent of U.S.-born Indian Americans.
In my opinion, parents should teach Indian culture, take their children to Sunday schools, teach them Vedas, Indian classical dancing, Indian language like Hindi or, whatever is their mother tongue from an early age to build rapport with India. They should celebrate all Indian festivals and make it a tradition. Make sure they eat Indian food and develop a taste for Indian spices and Indian food.
I would say the baby boomer generation like us, are very close to India and go to India every year building their economy. India is a wonderful country and we have so many holy places to visit. Some of our Hindu temples are more than a 1000 years old. Every 12 years they do the Bahubali Abhishekam in Karnataka and I can proudly say I was part of that even though not a Jain, and allowed to do Abhishek. I have been on my beautiful temple visit in All of south India, Tamil Nadu, Meenakshi temple, Madurai Rameshwaram (jyotirlinga), Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram, Aho Bilam Shri Shailam (jyotirlinga), Belur-Halebid in Karnataka, Sabarimala : Ayappa Swamy temple, and Guruvayyur temple in Trichur and their famous temple in Kerala, etc. etc.. Everywhere I went I prayed for all, shopped, stayed in their best hotels, this way we build the Indian economy. Our India is incredible and we should proudly support our community here and in India. Whatever little we can do will benefit our country we grew up in.
Chicago has a very active Indian community and they do a lot for the children’s education in India, build hospitals for the people who cannot afford treatment, provide food for families who cannot afford do-waqt-ki-roti. They should continue to support India and definitely build India US ties stronger. India definitely needs our help and we should continue to do fundraising and send funds for the betterment of India.
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Dave Vasudevan a computer technologist and professional designer said that India, as a high end Technical epicenter of skills and services, envisions a Global Reality of a ‘Better Tomorrow’ based on Empowerment instead of Exploitation; can establish a strong partnership between India & USA along with other global partners. India as a hub of unique, innovative & distinctive activities strives to develop platforms where policymakers and opinion leaders can Dream, Discuss and Design solutions to global development challenges. India believes in bringing dreams into reality by an Action Oriented approach that is tangible & achievable.
Jointly we can ensure sustainable development based on Alternative Development Model framework to nurture long-term symbiotic relationships between India and United States of America by integrating with other global partners of the same principles and contemplations. Jointly we may ensure for Energy Efficient, Environmentally Responsible and Sustainable future for all and create & promote awareness globally through multi-level, cross-sectorial interactions about global issues Also we can ensure sustainable development by introducing Alternative Development Models of development that are replicable and scalable particularly in areas like governance, infrastructure, technology, education and human capital by our concepts to strengthen Relationship, Create Mechanism, Create Projects & Initiatives.
In the process, we work on formation of a strong Relationship first, followed by deliberations to devise Mechanism so as to bring about effective execution leading to holistic and robust economy and then to empowerment, which can be decoded as EES “Energy Efficient, Environmentally Responsible and Sustainability & RME Relationship – Mechanisms & Execution .
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Sohan Joshi, former chief of FIA and active community member said that India-US ties are great at present but not only needs a continual nurture but also a steady growth. Indian Americans settled here could play a pivotal role as they are among the top ranked immigrant group financially and professionally
The prime need is to keep up political connections with the US lawmakers and support the right candidate all the time, and if possible get elected to the top positions in the political arena without which we cannot influence the country’s policies towards INDIA or any country. They would also be aware of the false propaganda unleashed by interested religious bigots and political groups who are keen to demolish good India-US relations.
