Indian government reaffirms commitment to diaspora: Gen. V. K. Singh to visit New Zealand
The Indian government has once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to two important goals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy – “diaspora” and “Act East Policy” by confirming the attendance of Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V. K. Singh in one of the biggest events of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand – the Kiwi Indian Hall of Fame awards.
So far New Zealand has been missing from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s high-octane emphasis on the global Indian diaspora.
Indian Weekender’s Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame awards, which is the biggest formal event in the Indian diaspora calendar in New Zealand, offers exactly the kind of opportunity for the Indian government to reiterate its commitment to the diaspora in New Zealand.
The event brings together representation from almost all major regional and religious communities across India on one single platform in New Zealand with a mutually shared goal of awarding excellence and role models within the Indian community in New Zealand.
The major community organisations represented in the event are New Zealand Indian Central Association, Auckland Indian Association, Indian Association of NZ, Shanti Niwas, Gandhi Niwas, Telangana Association, Auckland Tamil Association, Auckland Marathi Association, Bhartiya Samaj, Auckland Sikh Society, Hindu Council, and Punjabi Cultural Association.
Opportunity to realise Modi’s dream of connecting beyond ‘colour of the passport.'
Earlier this year Prime Minister Narendra Modi while opening the Pravasiya Bhartiya Divas in Bengaluru, had made a remark that New Delhi must look beyond the ‘colour of the passport’ to the ‘blood relationships’ that applies to all of the diaspora, signalling the intent to take the romance with the diaspora to the next level.
This New Zealand event offers the first major opportunity to realise that dream of connecting with the Indian diaspora beyond the ‘colour of passport.’
Indian diaspora in New Zealand is a panoramic collection of people of Indian descent emanating from places other than India such as Fiji, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Malaysia, the Caribbean, Africa, North America, the United Kingdom and Western Europe.
In fact, this Indian diaspora in New Zealand closely collaborates across their ‘colour of passports’ to pursue many mutually shared common cultural objectives.
The Hindu Council of New Zealand, a global Hindu organisation, brings together people of Indian descent from different countries like India, Fiji, Malaysia, South Africa and many more on a common platform to jointly lobby for a long felt cultural need of respectfully dispersing ashes of the deceased people in open waters.
Commitment to “Act East Policy”
Likewise, Gen V. K. Singh’s visit to New Zealand is also a demonstration of India’s emphasis on the “Act East Policy.”
India’s policy to build bridges with the eastern part of the globe has been an important facet of India’s foreign policy since the early 1990s, which was elevated by the Modi government to Act East in 2014.
The Act East Policy focuses on the strengthening of India’s economic and strategic relations with the key players in India’s east – the wider Asia-Pacific region - of which New Zealand is a key player.
Recently, the Indian Minister was in the Fiji to host a two-day conference organised under the framework of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Co-operation (FIPIC) on May 25-26.
The fact that the Indian Minister has chosen to return to New Zealand within a week of being earlier in the South Pacific neighbourhood reiterates growing geopolitical importance of the region in India’s worldview.
India and New Zealand both are maritime nations with extended coastlines and their dependency on the freedom of navigation, and open trade lanes are critical for their economic well-being.
There is a lot more to achieve for both India and New Zealand in improving maritime cooperation, enhancing trade and overall strategic alignment in global politics.
Buoyant diaspora ready to play the role of catalyst in NZ-India bilateral relations
Prime Minister Modi has transformed the way India looks toward its diaspora in contribution to India’s overall economic development and acting as a bridge to the nations that host them.
The presence of a key Indian Minister in this important diaspora event has confirmed that the Indian government is keen to harness the power of the diaspora in the fast growing bilateral relations between New Zealand and India.
The Indian diaspora is buoyant and ready more than ever to play a transformative role in New Zealand-India bilateral relations.
The Indian government has once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to two important goals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy – “diaspora” and “Act East Policy” by confirming the attendance of Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V. K. Singh in one of the biggest events...
The Indian government has once again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to two important goals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy – “diaspora” and “Act East Policy” by confirming the attendance of Minister of State for External Affairs Gen V. K. Singh in one of the biggest events of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand – the Kiwi Indian Hall of Fame awards.
So far New Zealand has been missing from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s high-octane emphasis on the global Indian diaspora.
Indian Weekender’s Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame awards, which is the biggest formal event in the Indian diaspora calendar in New Zealand, offers exactly the kind of opportunity for the Indian government to reiterate its commitment to the diaspora in New Zealand.
The event brings together representation from almost all major regional and religious communities across India on one single platform in New Zealand with a mutually shared goal of awarding excellence and role models within the Indian community in New Zealand.
The major community organisations represented in the event are New Zealand Indian Central Association, Auckland Indian Association, Indian Association of NZ, Shanti Niwas, Gandhi Niwas, Telangana Association, Auckland Tamil Association, Auckland Marathi Association, Bhartiya Samaj, Auckland Sikh Society, Hindu Council, and Punjabi Cultural Association.
Opportunity to realise Modi’s dream of connecting beyond ‘colour of the passport.'
Earlier this year Prime Minister Narendra Modi while opening the Pravasiya Bhartiya Divas in Bengaluru, had made a remark that New Delhi must look beyond the ‘colour of the passport’ to the ‘blood relationships’ that applies to all of the diaspora, signalling the intent to take the romance with the diaspora to the next level.
This New Zealand event offers the first major opportunity to realise that dream of connecting with the Indian diaspora beyond the ‘colour of passport.’
Indian diaspora in New Zealand is a panoramic collection of people of Indian descent emanating from places other than India such as Fiji, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Malaysia, the Caribbean, Africa, North America, the United Kingdom and Western Europe.
In fact, this Indian diaspora in New Zealand closely collaborates across their ‘colour of passports’ to pursue many mutually shared common cultural objectives.
The Hindu Council of New Zealand, a global Hindu organisation, brings together people of Indian descent from different countries like India, Fiji, Malaysia, South Africa and many more on a common platform to jointly lobby for a long felt cultural need of respectfully dispersing ashes of the deceased people in open waters.
Commitment to “Act East Policy”
Likewise, Gen V. K. Singh’s visit to New Zealand is also a demonstration of India’s emphasis on the “Act East Policy.”
India’s policy to build bridges with the eastern part of the globe has been an important facet of India’s foreign policy since the early 1990s, which was elevated by the Modi government to Act East in 2014.
The Act East Policy focuses on the strengthening of India’s economic and strategic relations with the key players in India’s east – the wider Asia-Pacific region - of which New Zealand is a key player.
Recently, the Indian Minister was in the Fiji to host a two-day conference organised under the framework of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Co-operation (FIPIC) on May 25-26.
The fact that the Indian Minister has chosen to return to New Zealand within a week of being earlier in the South Pacific neighbourhood reiterates growing geopolitical importance of the region in India’s worldview.
India and New Zealand both are maritime nations with extended coastlines and their dependency on the freedom of navigation, and open trade lanes are critical for their economic well-being.
There is a lot more to achieve for both India and New Zealand in improving maritime cooperation, enhancing trade and overall strategic alignment in global politics.
Buoyant diaspora ready to play the role of catalyst in NZ-India bilateral relations
Prime Minister Modi has transformed the way India looks toward its diaspora in contribution to India’s overall economic development and acting as a bridge to the nations that host them.
The presence of a key Indian Minister in this important diaspora event has confirmed that the Indian government is keen to harness the power of the diaspora in the fast growing bilateral relations between New Zealand and India.
The Indian diaspora is buoyant and ready more than ever to play a transformative role in New Zealand-India bilateral relations.
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