The spirit of unity in the vibrant Indian community in New South Wales was evident in the grand reception held on Saturday, 30 May, for the 15-member delegation of Parliamentarians and senior officials from India, led by Hon. Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Minister of State – Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India at Grand Marion Function Centre, Harris Park.
The reception was jointly organised by prominent Indian community associations in NSW, led by United Indian Association, Council of Indian Australians, Tamil Arts and Cultural Association (TACA), Australian Hindi Indian Association, IIT Alumni Association, Institute of Charted Accountants of India and attended by many enthusiastic community members.
The 10-member delegation led by Minister Rudy included Bharatiya Janata Party’s Avinash Raj Khanna, Samajwadi Party’s Arvind Kumar Singh, Shiv Sena’s Shivaji Adhalrao Patil, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Ponnusamy Venugopal, and Bharatiya Janata Dal’s Dilip Kumar Tirkey, among others, as well as Afsal Amanaullah, Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Rajiv Mathur, Head – Standards & QA, National Skill Development Corporation.
The Indian Parliamentarians were on a goodwill visit to Australia, passing through Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra coinciding with the first anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Speaking to the Indian Diaspora in the community reception Minister Rudy sought their support for various development projects in India.
“Members of Parliament are here to meet Australian leaders and to discuss various aspects of partnerships in the area of business, clean energy, free trade agreement (FTA), security and also on skill development front,” Rudy said, while addressing the community. The Minister also highlighted ongoing visionary projects under PM Modi’s leadership such as pension schemes, Swachh Bharat, Make in India, Digital India etc. Minister Rudy also answered some queries of the community members. The members of Parliament also interacted with community members. Sunjay Sudhir, Consul General of India, Sydney was a special guest of the community reception. Mr. John Kennedy, Chair of UIA, stated that the community organisations were delighted to host the event and spoke about the involvement of the Indian community in Australia.
While the event began with a delightful kathak performance, mementos were presented to all members of the delegation.
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