EDISON, NJ (TIP): India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Textiles , and Leader of the Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal interacted  here with the Indian American community on January 8.

The minister was gracious enough to apologize for arriving late. Referring to the cultural presentation by the young artists, he said : “It’s very heartening to see India’s culture  and our traditions being  kept alive by all of you and I’d like to thank you for, in some sense, instigating Indian value systems in the youth. The Indians who are born here,  who are living here, were largely exposed to the American way of life, American lifestyle. That little bit of Indian tradition, value systems, family culture, I think will hold them in good stead as they grew up to be good citizens of the United States of America.” Praising Indians in the United States of America, he said they had performed exceedingly well in both  the US and India Speaking of the strong linkages and bonds of friendship between India and the US, Mr. Goyal said,  “We have very strong geopolitical ties, huge interests in  business and trade, and  in economic wellbeing of both countries. In fact, India is happy that the United States of America is our largest trading partner.”

“As we mark the contribution of all of the overseas Indians across the world, we feel proud that Indians have contributed to the rest of the world through our rich traditions and culture, and our acumen and managerial skills, our  talent which is today helping Indians lead large corporations, helping Indians contribute to the economic wellbeing of almost all parts of the world. Indians have been blessed with a huge amount of wealth of knowledge. And I believe the positive impact that all of you are making to America is well recognized in the reception that we get when we come to America or we go to any country. It’s truly because we represent a country of 1.4 billion Indians that we are recognized and respected.

The minister made a long oration about the progress India had made under the prime ministership of Mr. Narendra Modi. One of the achievements among the many he proudly cited was that Mr. Modi ensured that not even a single person died of starvation during the Covid-19 period. His claim was met with a little disbelief by many in the gathering, as stories about starvation deaths during the Covid -19 period  were doing the rounds in the media, even as the government of India reported no starvation deaths in India since 2016.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Consul General of India at New York, Randhir Kumar Jaiswal observed that “Indiais on a transformative path under  the visionary leadership of the  prime minister. There are three things that today happen to be part of global conversation. One, the Indian growth story. Two, the Indian startup ecosystem bursting and booming at its seams and three,  the socio-economic initiatives that are transforming India from food distribution to digital goods, and so on so forth. Let me tell you in all these three areas that form part of global conversation today, our honorable  Minister has a very critical role. He has played a very critical role in all these areas.” Mr. Vikas Nangia, well known TV Asia anchor excelled as the master  of ceremonies. The cultural content was extremely rich, with a song each being sung by a young man and a young lady, and a group dance which was presented by a troupe from Sneh Arts.