New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. (File)

New York:

Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru impressed others, together with Dr Martin Luther King, about democracy and non-violence, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul stated on Tuesday underling that the values of inclusion, pluralism, equality, freedom of speech and of faith bind India and the US collectively.

Addressing members of the Indian-American neighborhood on the Queens Museum throughout an occasion to have a good time the Indian Independence Day, Ms Hochul stated India and the US stand agency with that very same shared understanding of what it is prefer to reject colonial rule.

“This marks 75 years since India freed itself from the colonial yoke and people were able to start on that path toward true democracy,” Ms Hochul stated.

“In the United States, we stand firm with that same shared understanding of what it’s like to reject colonial rule, to embrace democracy and to foster our shared democratic values of inclusion, pluralism, equality, freedom of speech, and of course, freedom of religion. So these are the values that bind us together – India, United States of America. It is shared and we learn from each other,” she stated.

Ms Hochul added that we additionally study from celebrating the numerous languages and the religions. By the 1.2 billion individuals, nevertheless it’s additionally an announcement of a neighborhood rising up, a world rising up.

“And leaders who inspired others, like Gandhi and Nehru. Those are names we do learn about in our schools, about what struggle means and about the peaceful embrace of democracy, about non violence, and those are words that are still spoken about today. Dr. King was frequently quoting these great Indian leaders who inspired him to learn what non violence was all about,” she stated.

The Governor added that “this is what we value here today. We celebrate this, our people, our values, our democracies.” While the Indian Republic Day and festivals like Diwali are celebrated yearly with nice fervor throughout the state, Ms Hochul stated she is “very proud” to change into the primary governor of the state of New York to formally have a good time Indian independence day.

Ms Hochul, who started her remarks with ‘Namaste’ and ended them with ‘Jai Hind’, handed over a proclamation to Consul General Randhir Jaiswal that declared that August 15, 2022 will likely be formally proclaimed as India Independence Day.

Ms Hochul additionally applauded the contribution made by the Indian-American and neighborhood to the state and material of New York, including that the state is “proud” that almost 400,000 Indian Americans name New York residence.

“We are so lucky here in New York to have so many Indian Americans represented in our levels of government. There are many firsts and to the community that was long underrepresented in our societies, those barriers have been broken, and so they’re making incredible contributions to our civic life,” she stated.

Ms Hochul stated the Indian medical doctors, scientists, engineers, enterprise individuals, attorneys, artists, writers, restaurant tears, store house owners “create this beautiful fabric” and “really makes New York fabulous and vibrant.”

Noting the contributions of the Indian-origin medical doctors within the battle towards the COVID-19 pandemic, she stated “so many Indian-American healthcare professionals from doctors to those frontline nurses, they showed up, they displayed courage, they were there when we needed them and they literally saved lives,” she stated to applause from the viewers.

Mr Jaiswal stated that India’s success as a democratic nation is an inspiration for all freedom-loving individuals around the globe and added that “we are all equally aware of the work that is to be done ahead and we look forward to the future with an even greater sense of confidence and optimism to meet the aspirations of our people and to contribute to global peace and harmony.”

Mr Jaiswal famous that ‘India at 75’ is a celebration of a vibrant democracy and is as a lot a celebration of India-US friendship. The bilateral ties are ever nourished and embellished by the shared democratic credentials.

He stated pages of historical past are replete with how Indian freedom fighters and builders of recent India drew inspiration from American individuals, American thought and American establishments.

He famous that Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by the good American thinker Henry David Thoreau, the architect of India’s Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar was an alumnus of Columbia University, Swami Vivekananda based the Vedanta Society in New York to deliver India’s common thought to America, Lala Lajpat Rai shaped the India Home Rule league in New York, the social reformer Pandita Ramabai criss-crossed the East Coast for months collectively and Lala Hardayal established the Ghadar celebration in San Francisco.

“These are but a few of the many impactful connections that our freedom movement shares with United States,” he stated including that however, American leaders from Howard Thurman to Martin Luther King have drawn inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi. “People to people ties have indeed been the bedrock of our special bond and continues to be so even as we also mark 75 years of India-US diplomatic relations this year,” Mr Jaiswal stated.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)