A Last Minute Invite to See Dr. Jaishankar - 10/1/23
Diaspora & Indo-American Ties in the 21st Century...
I have no idea how it happened, but I received an invitation to an Indian-American diaspora event at the historic India House in Washington, DC on Friday. It was delivered to my personal email, something I rarely give out, and only one day before the event. The email was simply a confirmation that I was coming with an updated arrival time (I did not sign up or even know about the event prior). It was from the MEA’s New York consulate, and after checking with the Embassy of India and a friend who’s “in” with this crowd and also attending, it seemed legit. Knowing that Dr. Jaishankar, the Indian Minister of External Affairs, was going to be there, I decided to try my luck and show up.
After a few perusals of the email by security and a sign-in (or further check?) by embassy personnel, I was in. Admittedly, I felt a bit out of place. I was early and also one of the few younger people around, possibly the only person born in America. More guests came after, but everyone seemed to know each other. There were some serious power players at this event. Bigwigs who do big tings (shouts out to Top Boy - a great show I just started). People from Houston to Hawaii, Silicon Valley to South Florida, New York to Nevada, etc… were all here. Luckily, I met a few very nice and accomplished people early on who were friendly enough to continue breaking the ice with me after the usual small talk networking openers.
Onto the actual event. Since I was early, I grabbed seats with a new friend I met for the program. I’d say the seating amounted to 20% of the people who actually came. A lot more heads showed up as the afternoon rolled on. The program itself was punctuated by a classic Indian cultural program - young kids doing various regional dances along with a kaleidoscope of phone screens emerging from the crowd to record. In between were speeches by prominent Indian-Americans or those who are big fans of them. Newly elected Congressman Shri Thanedar (who has a very inspiring life story) stood out for highlighting negative socio-political attacks on Indian Americans, including the death of Jaahnvi Kandula. Also, Congressman Rich McCormick, who has gone viral on Indian social media before for effusive praise for Indian-Americans, delivered another warm speech that won a lot of cheers.
A few things stood out in the speeches:
A lot of pride was assigned to the success of Chandrayaan and G20. Signs of seriousness and achievement from India. Personal stories of mothers sending WhatsApp messages of the landing or the humble beginnings of Indian diplomacy leading to an international masterclass. India’s development story is really winning hearts.
The shadow of Gandhi is long. His image is iconic. Even if a lot of the sheen has gone from the stature of Gandhi domestically, abroad he is still a giant. Pluralism, tolerance, and diversity are keystone elements for how India markets itself internationally. Both the excellent opening speech by Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu and the exquisite closing speech by Dr. Jaishankar mentioned these omnipresent themes, as well as many of the speeches by other officials. Whatever India does behind the scenes or after tolerance is breached, it still puts Mahatma Gandhi as its main global brand ambassador.
Jaishankar was fastidious and assertive in pushing Indo-American ties. Built upon the aforementioned development and pluralism, there is a strong network of individuals, corporations, and political players who are very interested in bringing India and America together. The Indian-American diaspora is especially keen on this with prior hesitant hope or “chalta hai” attitudes giving way to “this is our time.” An excitement and furor about India is enveloping its far-away sons and daughters.
This of course is all in the wake of the Indian diplomatic fallout with Canada with the US’s role in this kerfuffle keenly being looked at.
There are factions in the American State Department. I have no doubt that the venomous views in the New York Times, Washington Post, and so on have true believers in the American government. But I also believe what I saw yesterday. I think there is a faction that really does believe in an Indo-American partnership more so based on common goals and joint prosperity. So far, the biggest common goal is containing China by propping up India. Beyond that - well, that’s where we may have some issues, but for now we can all enjoy the ride.
Till Next Time,
-Akshar
If you elaborate the topics and points that were raised in detail explaining the consequences and shortcomings then that will be eye opening.