USINPAC calls NRIs to convince NSG member countries

New Delhi, Jan 7 (UNI) A leading political organisation of the Indian American community has called upon the NRIs to undertake an urgent campaign to canvass support for the landmark Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in the Nuclear Suppliers Group countries.

''US India Political Action Committee, USINPAC offers fellow NRIs in other countries so that they could also lend their efforts just like the Indian American community did in the US, USINPAC Director India Bureau Robinder Sachdev said in its fourth delegation visit to India recently.

He said the community organisation was committed to keep working with the US administration to help bridge the gap between the Indian and the US positions and ''hopes to see a mutually satisfying relationship between the two countries''.

''We have also been concerned with India's growing energy needs and civil nuclear cooperation is another area where we have undertaken a concerted campaign to inform and educate lawmakers on Capitol Hill,'' Mr Sachdeva said.

He said 2006 will be noted as the watershed year, which saw unprecedented political activism by the Indian American community and in which the engagement with mainstream American society was raised to a ''newer and visible high''.

''It is a most couraging trend where we are seeing professionals and business entrpreneurs taking out more and more of their time and devoting themselves to social entrepreneurship,'' he pointed out.

The momentum for the nuclear deal owes much to the relentless efforts of the community and such social entrepreneurs have greatly aided the process, he further said.

On the occasion of Pravasi Divas, which begun here today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his gratitude to the Indian American community in the United States for the role played by them in the conclusion of the historic Indo-US deal for civil nuclear cooperation for meeting the country's growing energy needs.

UNI