BY RAVI R. PONANGI 

The Georgia Indo American Chamber of Commerce hosted a reception recently in honor of the visiting of Indian parliament members at Holiday Inn Select, Chamblee, Atlanta. The tour was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The 11 member Indian parliament delegation visited New York, Washington DC and Atlanta during their itinerary in the US.

In Atlanta, the delegation members interacted with business community. Many from different states of India attended the meeting to interact with the member of parliament from their constituencies. Among them Madhu Yaski, NRI from New Jersey and a Lok Sabha member from Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh received an impressive number of audience from his constituency, Nizamabad. Other members in the delegation included 

1. Mr. Baijayant Jay Panda
-- Rajya Sabha, educated in US
2. Mr. Deepender Singh Hooda
-- Lok Sabha
3. Mr. Dinesh Trivedi
-- Rajya Sabha
4. Mr. Kirti Vardhan Singh
-- Lok Sabha
5. Mr. Madhu Goud Yaski
-- Lok Sabha, only NRI member in parliament
6. Mr. Manvendra Singh
-- Lok Sabha, educated in US and son of Jaswant Singh, Former External affairs Minister.
7. Mrs. Prema Cariappa
-- Rajya Sabha
8. Mrs. Praneet Kaur
-- Lok Sabha, wife of Amrinder Singh, CM of Punjab
9. Mr. Sachin Pilot
-- Lok Sabha, son of Rajesh Pilot
10. Mr. Suresh Prabhu
-- Lok Sabha
11. Mr. Uday Singh
-- Lok Sabha


PR Subramanian, Vice president of GIACC welcomed the guests and the gathering. Krishnan Anand, president elect for 2007 introduced the delegation members to the audience. All 11 members of the delegation, S.M. Gavai, Consul General at Houston and representatives from CII explained in detail about the relations of India with other countries particularly with US and updated on the economic development taking place in India. Speakers patiently answered all questions to the satisfaction of the audience.

Baijayant Jay Panda, Rajya Sabha member from Orissa told this writer that the delegation met a cross-section of the American community, government officials, policy makers including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Pentagon officials, National Security Council members, think-tank, health research agency and business organization officials, the local media as well as Indian Americans. He said that the delegation received a positive feed back on the new level of Indo-US relationship. To a question about the purpose of their visit to US Mr. Panda said that their aim is to 1. Strengthen economic and bilateral trade relations. 2.Build awareness in the US with reference to the changing economic scenario in India and to encourage companies from the US to look at India as an investment destination. 3. Highlight to Policy makers the importance of creating the platform for early solution of various issues/problems faced by companies doing business. 4. Foster better understanding of the Cultural aspects of US among Indian Policy makers. 5. Help Members of Parliament of the Government of India broaden their international exposure in terms of economic development.