AAPI President Attends State Dinner
Nov 25, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dino Teppara, Esq.
AAPI Director of Legislative Affairs
Work: (703) 462-5221
Cell: (803) 467-2130
legislativeaffairs@aapiusa.net
Washington, D.C. - Today, AAPI released the following statement from President Dr. Vinod K. Shah after he attended the State dinner at the invitation of President Barack Obama.
"I am honored that President Obama provided me with the opportunity to join 300 guests in welcoming Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur back to Washington, D.C. at the White House's first official state dinner. This was truly a memorable event recognizing the global presence of the world's largest democracy and I will never forget the evening my wife Ila and I had last night.
"President Obama's comments were very well received and he stated that the contributions of 2.6 million Indian Americans were significant, and that he is looking forward to his visit to India with the First Lady and his two beautiful daughters in the near future.
"The Prime Minister spoke from his heart in a very passionate speech, moving the audience to applaud on many occasions when he acknowledged the wisdom and commitment of our President. During this difficult time, he noted that President Obama's leadership is important not only to the United States but globally and that India as the largest democracy has a role to play beyond our bilateral relationship to better the world.
"I am also pleased to announce that AAPI is tackling the challenges of public health mentioned in the joint statement issued by President Obama and Prime Minister Singh, and will be focusing on this very issue during our upcoming global health summit from January 2-3, 2010 in New Delhi.
"On behalf of AAPI's 15,000 members, we want to thank President Obama and Prime Minister Singh for their leadership in continuing the U.S.-India strategic relationship."
Dr. Shah was the only national president of an Indian American community organization invited to the State dinner.
Here is the text from the joint statement dealing with public health:
PROTECTING THE HEALTH OF OUR PEOPLE
Prime Minister Singh and President Obama welcomed the strong collaboration between India and the United States in the area of public health. They agreed to build on existing strong ties across academia and scientific communities by advancing public health and biomedical research collaborations between the United States and India. The two countries plan to establish a Regional Global Disease Detection Center in India and to build a partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The leaders also pledged to enhance collaboration in controlling diseases such as polio, and discovering new and affordable technologies and treatments for the benefit of their peoples and for those of other countries who seek their assistance.
The full statement can be viewed on the White House website here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/joint-statement-between-prime-minister-dr-singh-and-president-obama
To learn more about AAPI's legislative initiatives, please visit this
link:
Please join us on Facebook
here:
###