WASHINGTON, Sept 30: The Indian American community has not only diversified and promoted India but also contributed to the US economy in a huge sense, a BJP spokesperson has said, describing the Indian diaspora as a “bridge” between the two countries.
Guru Prakash Paswan, one of the youngest national spokespersons of the BJP, was here on a multiple-city book tour for his latest book ‘Makers of Modern Dalit History’ and participate in the recently held Jaipur Literary Festival in New York.
The session at the festival was themed on intersections, searching equity, the paradigm changes under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how the vocabulary of Indian politics has changed.
“We have great respect for what the Indian diaspora is doing here. Like the Prime Minister says they are our real ambassadors. They came here and then they built empires,” Paswan told PTI.
Today Indian Americans are CEOs of top corporations including Google and Microsoft, he said, adding that Indians might be less in number, but their share in the US economy is “huge”.
“The Indian American community has not only diversified and promoted India but also contributed to the American economy in a huge sense,” he said.
“We will continue this relationship; we will continue this interface for better Indo-US bilateral ties. We have come together in Quad, in the UNGA. We are looking forward to more meaningful cooperation when it comes to building stronger ties between the two nations. We see our community here as a bridge between the two nations,” he said.
In several cities including Washington DC, Houston and New Jersey, Paswan interacted with the Indian American community.
He, however, rued that the historic election of Droupadi Murmu as the first tribal president of India was not celebrated by the community as it should have been.
“It would have been ideal if the entire United States Indian diaspora would have celebrated the rise of Droupadi Murmu because it was a remarkable moment in our history. I think that touched a lot of lives back in India, her rise and her journey. In Droupadi Murmu, youngsters from the backward Dalit and tribal communities are seeing a reflection of themselves. This is a sort of aspiration which has happened this time, which is not less than a revolution,” he said.
“Definitely there is a consciousness, but there is always scope for more. Also, more importantly, the fact McKinsey recently said that India becoming the fifth largest economy and how our growth trajectory has been inclusive and distributive, the last eight years, the financial inclusion plan, the entrepreneurship support through startup India, stand up India, the mudra scheme and the socio-economic revolution which has an impact here,” he said. (PTI)
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