______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
I am delighted to welcome you to the 16th biennial convention and 30th anniversary celebration of the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA) in the city of New York. This great event provides us an opportunity to get together in order to discuss, deliberate and debate the contemporary issues facing the Indo-American community and explore means to collectively find solutions to address our concerns.
NFIA has come a long way since the day it was conceived back in the year 1980. There are a number of organizations in the US such as AAHOA, AAPI, FOKANNA and many others but NFIA is the ONLY organization that provides a single platform to address concerns of all Indian Americans in general, regardless of their professional affiliations. At present, NFIA represents nearly 2.7 million Indian Americans in the US. It is appropriate to say that NFIA is the voice of Indians in the United States.
US and India, two oldest and largest democracies in the World, can together become a single most powerful source to provide solutions to so many problems that this entire world is facing at this time. NFIA, as it has done in the past, wants to take this growing partnership between these two countries to a new level by providing a bridge for future generations to come. NFIA and the US Congress can together work on common goals like technological advancement, global warming, global terrorism, homeland security; and trade etc. NFIA will continue its efforts to improve the relations between the United States and India.
Indian community is growing in the US and it is more important than ever for us to stay united and become stronger to protect our culture, freedom and general way of our life. NFIA will continue to remain alert about the issues likely to affect our community and will rapidly respond to deal with them.
NFIA gave me the opportunity to serve our community and I am proud to have been associated with it. NFIA has great leadership with whom I have also established a life long friendship. I truly feel blessed.
As we are also celebrating 30th anniversary of NFIA, I congratulate and compliment all past presidents of this great organization for their selfless service and dedication to our community. I also commend the hard work of the entire New York team in planning and organizing this convention.
There is much more to do and many miles to walk. But I am positive that together we can certainly make a difference. United, we really do stand and prosper.
Best wishes,
Chandu K Patel “CK”
President, NFIA
|
