WASHINGTON (TIP): Prominent Indian Americans attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas – 2016 celebrations hosted by the Embassy of India in Washington, DC, on January 8.

The event was well attended with enthusiastic participation by the Indian-American community members representing various sectors including the government, business, professionals, artists, journalists, students, etc.

Opening the event with his special remarks, Ambassador Arun K. Singh highlighted the importance of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Ambassador underscored the transformational role played by the Indian American Community and its future potentials in the development of India-US Relations.

The highlight of the evening was talks by prominent Indian American community leader Swadesh Chatterjee and technology leader Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy.

Padma Bhushan Swadesh Chatterjee from North Carolina gave a Talk on “Building Bridges: How Indian Americans Brought the US & India closer together”. Shri Chatterjee has recently published a book highlighting the contribution of Indian Americans in various fields including in the field of energy cooperation.

This was followed by a Talk by Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy, President of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs, which has 61 chapters across 17 countries). Dr. Priyadarshy spoke on “India’s Flagship Projects and Indian Americans: Promising Possibilities”. In his talk he underscored the ways in which Indian American community can contribute to the flagship projects of the Government, including Smart City Mission, Skill India, Digital India, Make In India and Swatch Bharat. He also underscored how these projects are organically connected to each other.

The event concluded with an interactive session with audience through Q&A.