The National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), an umbrella body of Indian community organizations, has called upon the United Nations to give India a permanent seat on the Security Council.
The call was made in a resolution adopted at NFIA’s Oct 12-14 17th biennial convention in Chicago inaugurated by the Consul General of India, Mukta Dutta Tomar.
The NFIA members also approved two other resolutions condemning last August’s brutal attack on a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek Wisconsin and requesting the Government of India to establish a Training Centre of Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Welcoming the delegates from all over the United States to Chicago Tomar paid glowing tributes to the Indian American community saying the people of India origin have proved themselves in a tough global competitive environment.
Through their innovative, dynamic, pioneering qualities, they continue to produce new generation of talented individuals, good corporate and social citizens and enterprising and creative professionals, she said.
Studies support that over 3 million immigrants from India living in the US are one of the most remarkable concentration of Indians, Tomar noted.
Seventy percent of them over the age of 25 are college graduates, 67 percent over the age of 16 are professionals and the median income of Indian household is over $90,000, the highest among all ethnic groups in the United States.
A joint UC Berkeley-Duke University study revealed that Indian American immigrants have founded more engineering and technology companies from 1995 to 2005 than immigrants from UK, China, Taiwan and Japan combined.
The convention also saw several seminars spread over 10 sessions. The first plenary session was titled “Indian American Making an Impact in America”.
Dr. Ann Lata Kalayil, General Services Administration Administrator for Great Lakes Region was the keynote speaker. Anju Bhargava, a member of White House Office of Faith-based and Neighbourhood Partnership also addressed the session.
There was a spirited discussion on the political involvement of the community and the success it has achieved in this area. Toby Chaudhary, a political activist from Washington DC, urged the audience to wake up and participate in the mainstream politics.