Broward County Commissioner Honorable Joe Eggelletion honoring
Ambassador Mansingh with the Proclamation: US-India Friendship Day

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. They 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..

The dignitaries included Honorable Ambassador H.E. Lalit Man Singh, Consul General of India, Houston Mr. Rinzing Wangadi, Consul and Special Assistant Mr. Trimurti, Hon. County Commissioner Joe Eggelletion, Broward Board of County Commissioners, Mr. Art Kennedy Chief of Staff of Congressman Alcee Hastings, Mr. & Mrs. Doddamani Former Ambassador of India to Poland, Mrs. & Honorable Chandradath Singh Consul General of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Ernesto Ramos from Congresswoman Carrie Meek's Office, Dr. Dorsey Miller, Vice Chairman, North Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners, and Mr. Al Jones, Vice Chair, South Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners.

Ambassador Man Singh, who was very articulate, urged the Indian American community to step up to the next level of participating in the mainstream of leadership (first level being taking care of job, business, children, family, religious development). He also answered questions regarding Dual Citizenship, Kashmir issue, and recent religious strife.

In his welcoming remarks, the AIA National President Piyush Agrawal challenged the community to move beyond photo opportunities at the fund-raising events. He asked the leadership of various organizations to join AIA in its efforts of formulating a socio-political agenda for the common cause of the Indian Community. He further noted that it was essential for us to pool our resources and channel them in a focussed way too support the common cause agenda. We must our prepare ourselves to participate in the political process. Agrawal told the success story of recently elected New Jersey legislator Upendra Chivukula.

Ambassador Mansingh graciously described the South Florida Community : "It is no secret that the Indian Community in Florida is one of the most dynamic and focused in the United States. When I meet the Congressmen and other prominent Americans from this state, I am left in no doubt about your professionalism, hard work and willingness to contribute to the community--"

Refereeing to the bilateral relations between India and USA, he said " The growing relationship with India has strong bipartisan support in the US Congress. This was clearly manifested during the Prime Minister's visit when the leadership and members of the congress went out of their way to meet and welcome the Prime Minister and adopt a concurrent resolution welcoming the Prime Minister and commending India's support to the campaign against terrorism. The India Caucus is the largest single country caucus in the House."

According to the Ambassador, India, has been a very tolerant society for many thousands of years and all these years many religions have lived side by side. Some aberrations in the form of religious and communal strife do occur, but with more than a billion in population raised with the value of coexistence, they again live side by side

In honor of Ambassador Mansingh March 8th 2002 was proclaimed by the Broward County Board of Commissioners as the US India Friendship Day.

It was a very proud moment for the Indian American community in South Florida

For more information, contact Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal at the numbers/address given below.