People of Indian origin, who are living in USA on refugee status, will soon be able to travel to India with a valid travel visa. The Government of India has decided to grant visa to applicants with refugee status living in USA.
Photos / Gunjesh
This was announced by Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Deputy Consul General of India in New York, at an outreach event organized at TV Asia in Edison, NJ. Mohapatra said that the consulate was working on 24 hours and seven days basis in order to provide timely assistance to individual visa seekers, who were in dire and unique situations. He invited applicants to open houses at the Consulate so that their issues were resolved. The consulate holds open houses every first and third Wednesday of every month.
Responding to a question about killing of Indian professional in Kansas, Dr. Mohapatra commented that Government of India was very concerned about cases of violence against Indian citizens who were victim of hate or other kinds of crimes. He pointed out the Government of India gave priority to the unfortunate incident that took place in Kansas where an Indian professional Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed by a gunman. “We acted very quickly to address the situation. As we talk here, Dr. S. Jaishankar, India’s foreign Secretary, was in Washington holding talks with senior members of the Donald Trump administration on various issues for mutual interests.
The outreach event was also utilized to extend a warm reception to a group of diplomats from Washington who visited Indian market in Edison and Jersey City in New Jersey. The five US diplomats showcased their Hindi speaking proficiency. They surprised an audience of community leaders and professionals from wide areas of businesses and occupation, when they spoke in fluent Hindi. All diplomats were studying Hindi language at the institute prior to their postings in India.
Michael Rosenthal, Political Unit Chief, Office of India Affairs, US Department of State, who led the group, said that he and his colleagues were due for their posting in India in the coming months. “We are learning Hindi and Indian culture at the Foreign Service Institute run by the State Department”, he said adding that thousands of US diplomats attend language and culture classes prior to their overseas postings. Rosenthal said that as a part of his language studies he and his four colleagues visited shops and interacted with businessmen in Jersey City and Edison townships. The group was welcomed by HR Shah, Chairman, TV Asia.
Addressing the gathering Nathaniel Farrer, a member of the group, said in Hindi, “He and his colleagues enjoyed watching Hindi movies and often debate about the acting talents of Bollywood actors. “We are yet to agree about who among Amir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan is the better actor”, he said jokingly.
Pushpa Patel, a Hindi instructor at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, was visibly in tears to see her student perform so well in Hindi. “They prepared their own script for this occasion. I am so happy they are learning Hindi very well”, she commented.