India’s Union Minister of State for Tribal affairs, Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, who was in Auckland last week for a brief stopover en-route to state-visit to Samoa, had reached out to the members of Indian community in a meet and greet event held at the office of the Consulate of India, on Saturday, May 19.
This was the second ministerial visit from India to the region within a month.
Earlier, India’s Union Minister of State for Surface Transport, National Highways, Shipping and Petroleum & Chemical Fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya, was in the region in late April, visiting Fiji and Tonga.
Mr Bhabhor was received at the airport by High Commissioner of India, Sanjiv Kohli and Hon. Consul Bhav Dhillon, and driven directly to the Auckland Consulate office when told that his flight had arrived a bit late and the members of the community will be waiting at the meet and greet event.
The members of the community also had braved what seemed to be bad weather for a Saturday evening to reach out to the visiting Indian Minister.
Among others, those present included Prithipal Singh Basra of Kolmaar Gurudwara, Satender Singh Chauhan of New Lynn Gurudwara, Kalyan Rao Kasuganti of Telangana Association New Zealand, Vijay Kosna of TRS Party, Vai Ravindran of Auckland Tamil Association, Vijay Modi of Gujarati Samaj NZ, Aruna Bhoompelly and Suneel Kuncha of New Zealand Telugu Association, Aruna Jyothi Mallikarjun Reddy of Telangana Jagruthi New Zealand, Nilima Venkat of Shanti Niwas, Jeet Suchdev of Bhartiya Samaj, Nanette Natho and Harshad Patel of New Zealand Indian Central Association, Blessan M Jose of Auckland Malayali Samajam, Ashok Bhai Daarji of Auckland Indian Association and Dhansukh Lal of Radha Krishna Mandir.
The event started with a welcome address by Mr Dhillon, who welcomed the Minister and members of the community.
The minister began his speech by acknowledging community’s generous representation in the event.
“I am told that in countries like New Zealand, weekends are usually reserved for family.
“However, I am humbled by the presence of members of our Indian community, which looks to me from every region of the country,” Mr Bhabhor said.
“Our people all around the world are India’s global ambassadors.
“Indians all around the world have earned a special recognition and place in the heart of the people for their hard work and peace-loving nature.
“Our government has a full appreciation of this fact and I bring good wishes from the Government of India for your role in being India’s global ambassadors,” the Minister asserted.
Speaking further about his state-visit to Samoa, the minister said, “This is the first ever visit by an Indian Minister to Samoa.”
“Our government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to establish a cordial bilateral relationship with every country of the world and work for the progress of Indians.
“Towards this goal, I am going to Samoa, and am hopeful that this visit will further unlock the potential of improving our mutual bilateral relations.”
The minister took the opportunity to apprise members of the Indian community about some major steps taken by the current government in New Delhi from demonetisation to GST to free electricity and rural electrification.
The minister also expressed satisfaction in the functioning of Auckland Consulate Office and assured further support from New Delhi, to let the office continually deliver more and more services to the Indian community in New Zealand.
High Commissioner Sanjiv Kohli concluded the formal part of the event with a vote of thanks to the Minister and members of the community.
“It is evident that the affinity between the Indian government and the members of Indian diaspora is growing.
“On one hand we have the Minister who was keen to reach out to the community on time directly from the airport, and on the other hand we have our community leaders braving out this bad weather for a Saturday evening,” Mr Kohli said.
After the formal part of the event, the floor was opened for a casual meet and greet, where community leaders interacted with the minister, apprising him about the broad overview of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand, and telling about their successes and challenges in everyday lives.
On several occasions, the minister and his staff were seen taking notes from conversations with members of the community.
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