P2P Joint Vision Conference will be held on September 15. 2000 from 9.00am to 4.00pm at the Loy Henderson Auditorium. State Department. The Indian American leadership Council in cooperation with the Association of Indians in America, and the National Council of Asian Indian Associations is spearneading the conference that is being facilitated by the White House and the State Department.

Commerce Secretary. Norman Mineta will be the keynote speaker: Vice President Gore plans to address the participants: and dignitanes from the State Department and me White House will be our guest. The P2P conference will set me intellectual context to develop or initiate collaborative relationship mar would showcase Indian/L'S achievements in science, technology, public affairs, business, industry, medicine. healthcare. education and community development etc. Organizers of the conference hope that such ongoing deliberations would create a "people's rendition" of the historic vision statement that will be rich in meaning for those challenged with implementing it. Participants will identify avenues to exchange information, solve problems, share successes, and develop new concepts and approaches to meet the challenges of the evolving paradigms of the technological age.

The challenges of global ization, changes in the quality of life, civic awareness and social responsibility, will drive the dialogue for the new framework for Indo-US cooperation in the third millennium. The conference theme is "Cultivating Multifaceted Indo-US Partnerships" with panel discussions on Local & State Governance; Environment and the Transportation; Biotechnology and Healthcare; the Information Revolution &. Economic Development; Imercultural Communications &. Global Society. Organizers are also planning to showcase diverse Indo-US Projects for "best practices" penmem to the conference theme.

Eminent scholars and practitioners have been identified to address the conference. There is limited space. Conference registration must be completed no later than (close of business day) September 13. 2000. To register please log on to the P2P conference registration site at http://P2P.estart.com or email ialc@iaol.com or call me.

Center for Responsible Citizenship: Under the aegis of the Center for Responsible Citizenship, Election 2000 initiative has made a quite but impressive progress. However, the success of this or any other initiative exclusively depends upon the support of each and every member of the AIA. AIA neither endorses a particular political party nor a particular candidate. Nevertheless, we encourage our membership to actively participate in the democratic process. And. as such we bring only the relevant information to your attention as pan of educational process. Therefore, let me bring an excerpt from a previously publ'ished pamphlet of AIA titled "Political Awareness" under the direction of Dr. Nirmal K. Mattoo and Dr. Narinder M. Kukar with appropriate update.

If we have to succeed in this country as a community, we need to get organized and participate in the civic duties and political processes of the land. Granted that some of us have been politically active and have raised millions of dollars for political campaigns; yet, these efforts have been disorganized with no coherent theme as to what we would like to gain as a group or achieve as a community. Many who have been active in politics and mndraising have been content with photo opportunities and private dining with politicians for the sake of impressing their friends and acquaintances. Many politicians have not taken our community seriously either. For them. we are a divided community unable to forge a common ground on priorities.

It has been estimated that about S10 million dollars have been raised through the 1996 Presidential Elections. Monev was raised and contributed by individuals without an agenda or a clear vision as to what the community would expect in return from the political candidates who were the beneficiaries. We have vei to see any'tangible results from the political fund raising activities so far. We do not have even a single individual of Indian descent in a position of power to have any impact on policy decisions in this country except Dr. Jov Cherian. who was one of the Commissioners at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But he was not a beneficiary of any fund raising activities.

I have appointed Honorable Upendra Chivikula, Mayor of Franklin Township, NJ a member of your NEC, as the Chair of the Election 2000 Committee to spearhead this initiative.