Indian-Americans Celebrate 74th Republic Day In Texas

Indians in the US state of Texas celebrated the 74th Republic Day with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervour at various colourful events organised across Houston.

Consul General of India, Aseem Mahajan, at a Facebook live event on Thursday, hoisted the national flag and addressed the gathering to convey the speech of Indian President Droupadi Murmu, which reaffirmed constitutional values that have guided India's progress.

In another well-attended event at the India House and Gujarat Samaj of Houston, Aseem Mahajan unfurled the Indian flag amongst many Indian Americans and interacted with them.

The consulate organised a memorable reception to commemorate Republic Day, which saw the attendance of various dignitaries from Texas and other states, including elected officials, business leaders and professionals from a range of areas, and members of the Indian expatriate community.

City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Fort Bend County Judge K P George also attended the gathering.

Representatives of Senator John Cornyn, Congressman Al Green, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and Consulate Generals of Japan, Mexico and other countries were also present at the power-packed evening, besides over 300 guests from neighbouring states.

The evening started with the rich sound of the Indian National Anthem, sung collectively by all present, followed by the US Anthem.

The guests spoke highly of India and its strategic alliance with the USA, especially Houston and its "model Indian American Community".

Addressing the guests, Aseem Mahajan said, "As two vibrant democracies having open and multicultural societies, commonalities in culture and shared values, India and the United States are natural partners."

"Bilateral trade and investments between both countries have continued to grow. There are over 2,000 US companies present in India and over 150 Indian companies in the United States, and the number is growing rapidly, which underlines the immense potential in our partnership," he added.

"Start-up ecosystems in both countries offer immense opportunities for Indian and US companies to build partnerships in areas like health care and medical research, energy, new and renewable energy, biosciences, financial technologies, artificial intelligence, internet software and other cutting-edge technologies," Aseem Mahajan said.

Houston Mayor Turner, while congratulating the Indian community, thanked them for making Houston a great city and always being supportive.

"Let me just say to you, that India is now one of our leading trading partners, and we are blessed with that relationship," Mayor Turner said.

"This city is a great city because when you look into our hospitals, who do you see as our doctors, our nurses, our technicians, they're people of Indian descent. The same is the case with the education and technology sectors. The Indian community has also been there to help and aid at the time of natural disasters", he added.

Indian-American Fort Bend County Judge K P George said, "The USA and India are the world's largest democracies, share much in common, and I look forward to working with members of both communities towards a prosperous future for all." He thanked the people present at the event for trusting and re-electing him and added that he would do his all for the economic development of the county.

The representatives of Senator Cornyn, Congressman Al Greens, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee presented a proclamation for special congressional recognition to the Consul General.

Entertaining rich ethnic dances and songs over elaborate ethnic food followed the evening.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)