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Indian Ambassador Visits South Florida India's Ambassador to the United States of America H.E Lalit Man Singh visited South Florida for a 4-day trip at the invitation of The Association of Indians in America from March 7 thru March 10, 2002. He was accompanied by his Special assistant Mr. T.S. Tirumurti and Houston based Consul General Mr. Wangdi Rinzing. The first event was a meeting of the Ambassador with the Community leaders at the Weston residence of AIA President Dr. Piyush Agrawal. Weston City commissioner Sandy Halperin welcomed the visiting guests. The Ambassador gave an account of the events in India and spoke about the growing relations between India and the USA. The Community leaders had an interesting and challenging but mutually respectful interactive dialog with the Ambassador. The leaders were extremely impressed by the Ambassador and they thought the meeting was very productive. The next day, March 8 was a very busy day for the visiting guests. The day started with a breakfast meeting with the Global Affairs Committee of The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest and most active Chambers in the Country for International Trade, followed by a reception by the Miami-Dade County Office of the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners where the Ambassador was warmly welcomed as a Distinguished Visitor. Immediately following was a meeting with the faculty and students of Florida International University (FIU) at its main campus where the Ambassador engaged in a very fruitful dialog with the participants. He was welcomed by Professor Thomas Breslin, Vice President for Research. After that FIU hosted a private lunch in honor of the Ambassador. In the afternoon, The Ambassador met with the Sun-Sentinel Editorial Group where Mr. Mansingh acted more like an educator rather than a diplomat. The staff was grateful for learning a lot (from a different perspective). In the evening of March 8, a gala reception at Ft. Lauderdale Airport Hilton was organized by The Association of Indians in America (AIA) in cooperation with other major Indian Community Organizations in South Florida under the leadership Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, National President of AIA. It was a very successful event on many accounts. First, it was very well attended by the leadership of all communities and of all faiths of Indian Americans. There were more than 200 attendees. Some of the communities and associations that attended were Association of Indians in America (AIA) and its South Florida Chapter, IRCC, Tamil Association, Kerala Samajam, Gujarati Samaj, Sikh Group, South Florida Hindu Temple, Kashmiri Samaj, Swaminarayan Sanstha, Islamic Center of Ft. Lauderdale, Noorluslam of Cooper City, Asian Film Festival, Asian American Foundation, Asian American Federation, Asian American Alliance, and representatives from the Trinidadian, Guayaneese, Suriname, and Jamaican Indian Communities. Emcee Dr. Karan Munuswamy conducted the program extremely well. The event started with lighting the auspicious lamp by AIA South Florida Chapter President Lakshmi
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