The new High Commission of India addressed a well-attended Indian community function at India House on Friday 12th. More than a hundred representatives of different social, cultural and ethnic associations of the Indian diaspora as well as Indian origin members of the British Parliament attended the function.
His Excellency Navtej Sarna, who took over his post in London last month, welcomed the community to India House, which is an institution open to all Indians. He emphasised it reflected Indian-ness in every inch as it had originally been built for India.
"They (diaspora) were a huge asset for building India UK relations. They were a bridge of influence that needed to be fully utilised. At the same time they had a huge role to play in assisting India's development and in helping India attract foreign investment and expertise that would help develop its infrastructure, its ports, airports and smart cities or the cleaning of the Ganga," he added.
Saluting the community members, in a statement he added, “Each community member’s life journey could be described as A Tale of Two Countries – that of India and the UK; that of the matrabhumi and the karambhumi. The community in the UK had flourished extensively in every field of human endeavor- economics and business, politics, culture, medicine, finance and so on. They had acquired a political weight and strong voice and they carried influence.
“Even while they had flourished in the UK they had not forgotten their cultural roots. To the contrary their cultural had become part of British life – tandoori was more popular than fish and chips, bhangra was a byword in London.”
He also announced that the Consular outreach was being given huge importance by the High Commission. UK had the highest share of electronic visas that had been issued – 24%; 300,000 OCI cards had been issued and 300 applications were being received every day.
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At this gathering, President of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union in the UK, Ms Sanam Arora was honoured by the Deputy High Commissioner of India Dr Virander Paul, who presented her with an award for community services, awarded by the Bedford Indian Organisations. Sanam in a statement said she is absolutely delighted to have received this awards and it was a total surprise for her.
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Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, Prmediapix
