Indians across US celebrate Independence Day with enthusiasm

Washington: The Indian community in the US celebrated India's 69th Independence day by unfurling the national flag and organising cultural events to mark the occasion.

India's Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh read out President Pranab Mukharjee's national address and hoisted the tri-colour function at his residence here. Singh said as the defining partnership of the 21st century in the world, India and the US are enhancing their ties not only at the bilateral level, but also at the regional and global levels.

"With the historic visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014 and President Barack Obama in January, the leaders of both countries have given a great impetus to the momentum of this relationship," he said.

"Our bilateral trade and investment, which are reaching new heights, are encouraging us to aspire for higher goals. Our cooperation has deepened in the established sectors while new fields are continuously added to widen our relationship.

People-to-people contact is one of the strongest pillars of this growing relationship," the Ambassador said. The national tri-colour also fluttered proudly at the Indian mission at the United Nations and Indian consulates in New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and San Francisco.

The ceremonies were attended by a cross-section of the local Indian community, diplomats and government officials. In Houston, Consul General P Harish unfurled the national flag at his residence, while the Indian Consul General in San Francisco hoisted the tri-colour at the historic Gadar Memorial, which was thronged by Indians and friends of India.

Consul General in Chicago, Dr Ausaf Sayeed, hoisted the flag and Consul General Nagesh Singh unfurled the tri-colour in Atlanta. Consul General in New York, Dnyaneshwar M Mulay, hosted the Independence Day celebrations where diplomats from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan along with the community leaders were in attendance.

Mulay in his address urged the Indian community to form "India-centric think tank" to propagate the country to the global community in a bigger way. New York City will be the venue to the largest celebration of Independence Day today with an annual India Day Parade scheduled to pass through the city.

Former Indian Minister Shashi Tharoor would be joining float of the Indian National Overseas Congress (USA), a statement said. The visiting Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar , would be the chief guest of the celebrations organized by Overseas Friends of BJP at the Royal Albert Palace in New Jersey.