Together we are shaping lives, dreams and destinies: Modi to diaspora

No need to return to India to renew H-1B visas; new US consulates to be opened in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru

Nine years after he received a rock star like reception from a rapturous crowd of Indian Americans in New York in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi enthralled the Indian community in Washington after a highly successful state visit.

“In a way, you have charted out the full map of India in this hall. I can see people from all corners of India here. It seems that a mini India has turned up. I have received unprecedented love and affection during my stay in the US,” he said addressing the Indian American community at the Ronald Reagan Centre in Washington, DC, on Friday.

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“I want to thank you all for showing such a beautiful image of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat,’ (One India, Best India) in America,” said Modi congratulating the Indian community for their success in their respective fields in the US.

Thanking them for playing a significant role in strengthening India-USA ties, he highlighted future areas of bilateral partnership and invited the Indian American community to contribute to India’s growth.

Sharing some good news with the Indian community, Modi spoke about some changes being introduced in the processing of H-1B visa used by highly skilled Indian professionals to work in the US and opening of new US and Indian consulates in the two countries.

“Indian Americans will not have to travel to India to renew their H1B visas,” he said to the great relief of Indian professionals. Since 2004, H1-B visa holders had to return to India to renew these visas.

Modi also announced a new Indian consulate would be opened in Seattle this year, with two more in other US cities. Additionally, America’s new consulates would be opened in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

Modi credited President Joe Biden for furthering ties between the two nations saying he had personally put in a lot of effort to take India-US ties to new heights. “Be it defense, industry, manufacturing, or the industrial supply chain, we are heading towards a better future together.”

READ: Modi swears by democratic values in historic address to US Congress (June 23, 2023)

General Electric Company’s decision to manufacture fighter plane engines in India will prove to be a milestone for India’s defense sector, he said.

Other US companies like Google, Micron, Applies Materials had also announced plans to make investments in India, which would help create employment in India, he said.

The Prime Minister also pitched the idea of a new, transformed India to the audience at the event. “The manner in which India has seen a digital revolution in the past few years is unprecedented.”

“Maybe you will see a barcode board there at a shop in your village. Maybe you try to pay in cash and the shopkeeper asks if you have a digital payment app on your phone. This transformed India will amaze you. Today anyone, anywhere in India can do 24/7 banking. Be it Sunday or Monday, there is no impact on it.”

Attributing this ‘tremendous progress’ to the belief of 1.4 billion people in the country, he said, “New India knows its direction and has no confusion about its decisions, resolve. Its potential turning into performance.”

Amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’, the prime minister also said that there was no better time but the present to invest in India. “This is the best time to invest as much as possible in India. Many of you have been living here for years. But I know your hearts are back in India.”

Modi also informed the community that about 100 ancient artefacts stolen from India will be returned by the American government.

READ: Modi visit yields big-ticket defense and technology deals, Moon shot (June 23, 2023)

“These antiques were taken away both in the wrong and right ways, and found their way into foreign markets. I thank the US government for returning these,” he said.

“This symbolizes that we respect each others’ emotions as countries. This shows that India-US relations are strengthening not just businesswise, but also sentimentally.”

“Together we are not just forming policies and agreements, we are shaping lives, dreams and destinies,” he concluded amid thunderous applause.

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