Consul Generals from New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston and Chicago attended the online event  along with eminent Indian American community members from across the country bid farewell to Amb.Sandhu in a virtual event / X/@SandhuTaranjitS

The Indian community in the United States during a virtual farewell for Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu hailed him as a chief architect of US-India bilateral relationship during his tenure that lasted four years in Washington DC.

Appointed as Ambassador in 2020, the diplomat will be vacating office at the end of this month and retiring from government service after a 35-year long career, during which he was deployed four times in America, across various capacities.

During his recent stint, Ambassador Sandhu was instrumental in elevating the standard of the bilateral relationship between the two countries. His tenure was marked by the historic Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic State Visit to the White House, the establishment of an Indian Consulate in Seattle, the signing of critical bilateral agreements such as initiative on critical and emerging technologies (iCET) and the General Electric (GE) Aerospace-Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) deal for transfer of technology (ToT).

Consul Generals from New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston and Chicago attended the online event  along with eminent Indian American community members from across the country to honor Ambassador Sandhu and pay tribute to his long but significant service. An in-person farewell is also scheduled to be held at India House in Washington DC in the coming week.
Addressing the event, CGI Chicago, Somnath Ghosh,  briefed the audience of the achievements during Ambassador Sandhu’s tenure and lauded him for his contributions and diplomatic leadership. 

“Your work will be remembered, your presence as the leader of the community and as the representative of India in United States will be remembered for a long time. In fact, this is something that will be sort of remembered as a milestone because the bilateral relationship from here onward will only go up and up in the manner that President Biden said that it will define the century that we are living in,” Ghosh stated.

Ajay Bhutoria, a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on AANHPI affairs lauded Ambassador Sandhu’s exemplary service. “Ambassador Sandhu, you are not just a skilled diplomat; you are a visionary who has significantly shaped the trajectory of the 21st-century bilateral relationship between the United States and India,” he said.

Highlighting the ambassador’s service particularly to the diaspora as “unparalleled”, Dhaval Vaishnav from Detroit said, “You defined us as an Indian American, You defined us as who we are. You defined us as where we stand… And when we walk in USA, we can say that we get the respect we never used to get as an Indian American.”

Noting the ambassador’s special contributions to the Sikh American community, Jagdip Ahluwalia, founding Member of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston and fellow member of the Sikh Faith said, “You are the true example of one of the best of the Indian diplomatic corps and a true example of the best of the Sikh faith. So as a fellow Sikh, you make us feel proud, very, very proud of the image that you created about my community.”

Community leaders such as Avinash Gupta – president of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) NY NJ CT NE, Khanderao Kand head of the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) and Sunil Agarwal, president of the Indian Association of Los Angeles and other community members also recalled their meetings and interactions with the Ambassador during the two-hour-long event.

Thanking them for their love and support, Ambassador Sandhu lauded the diaspora and maintained that the Indian American community’s  excellence  gave him and his office the “signal” to further strengthen the US-India partnership across all areas.
 

Wonderful to connect with members of the Indian-American community and friends of India from across US for a virtual farewell reception. Humbled by their affection, heartfelt remarks, and warm wishes.

Complimented their contributions in building the India-US story, and encouraged… pic.twitter.com/mp7jutPd06

— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) January 21, 2024

 

During his speech, the ambassador informed the gathering of the opening of two more Indian consulates in the United States in the future. “The Indian American community has given us a lot of pride. We have two more consulates which have been promised and we hope that those two will also open quickly,” he said.

Concluding his address, Ambassador Sandhu urged the Indian Americans to consistently engage with their alma maters and hometowns back in India and contribute to the country’s growth story. 

“You must ensure that your children remain invested in India; they travel to India,” He said adding that doing so will enable the next generation of Indian Americans to benefit from India’s growing global relevance in the future. “If they know India well, they will be hired by most of the international companies which will be moving into India,” Sandhu asserted.