Indians abroad join I-Day celebrations

Indians abroad celebrated their country's 60th Independence Day on Tuesday by attending flag hoisting ceremonies at their diplomatic missions and participating in cultural programmes organised to mark the occasion.

After unfurling the national tricolour, the heads of the missions read out President A P J Abdul Kalam's address to nation.

In Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, visiting Overseas Indians Minister Vayalar Ravi attended the flag hoisting ceremony at the residence of Indian High Commissioner R L Narayan. The womens' wing of the Bharat Club, an association of expatriate Indian women, sang the national anthem and other patriotic songs.

In Beijing though a working day, Indians gathered at the Indian Embassy where Ambassador to China, Nalin Surie unfurled the tricolour and read out President's address to the nation. The celebrations in the Chinese capital were attended by a large group of Indian businessmen, visiting to see the Communist giant's progress.

The Independence Day was also celebrated at the Consulate General of India, Shanghai, China's largest city and commercial hub. For the first time ever sizeable groups of Indian nationals, including medical students, from nearby cities also participated with marked enthusiasm.

In Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, the Consulate General of India organised the function attended by a sizable number of Indian community, including senior executives of Indian banks and other companies.

Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the occasion and expressed the belief that the advancement of Indian economy would have positive impact for the overall economic development of the countries in South Asia, thereby enhancing the quality of lives of the people in the region.

"India's spectacular economic growth and technological progress achieved in recent years under free and liberal environment was inspiring to all of us," he said in a message.

The spirit of cooperation and goodwill from India would continue as Nepal moves ahead with the crucial agenda of establishing full-fledged democracy, permanent peace and stability in the country by ending the decade-old conflict.

He said the people of Nepal deeply cherished the firm support extended by the Government of India and Indian people in their peaceful democratic movement.

In the United Arab Emirate capital Abu Dhabi, Indian ambassador C M Bhandari unfurled the tricolour and read out Kalam's message. Students from the Indian schools sang patriotic songs. The celebrations were also held in Dubai and Qatar.

Apart from Independence Day celebrations at the embassy, Indian ambassador to Qatar unfurled the tricolour at a function jointly organised by six Indian Schools in Doha. English newspapers across the Gulf brought out special supplements to mark the occasion.

In Bahrain, members of the Indian community marked the day with several events. Indian ambassador Balkrishna Shetty hoisted the flag at the embassy, in Adliya.

In Islamabad, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Shivshankar Menon unfurled the flag and read Kalam's address to the nation. Children of the High Commission officials sang patriotic songs at the ceremony attended by Deputy High Commissioner T C A Raghavan, diplomats and staff members.

In Herzliya (Israel), Indian Ambassador to Israel Arun Kumar Singh unfurled the tricolour amid an unprecedented turnout, including members of the Indian-Jewish community who performed a cultural programme with a Namaste-Israel

group dancing to Indian patriotic songs.

The president of central organisation of Indian Jews Noah Massis said: "We are proud of our Indian origin and culture which have taught us to coexist. We never faced any sort of anti-semitism in India and our love for our motherland is visible in the impressive turnout."

In Russian capital Moscow, Ambassador Kanwal Sibal hoisted the national tricolour and students of Kendriya Vidyalaya sang national anthem and patriotic songs. Flag hoisting ceremonies were also held at the Indian consulates in St Petersburg and Vladivostok in Russia and Indian missions in other CIS capitals including Kiev, Tashkent, Dushanbe and Almaty.

In Tehran, about 350 members of the Indian community participated in a ceremony at the Indian embassy.

The Indian community in the UK is considered as a model in integration, self-reliance, acquiring knowledge and not being a burden on the society, the High Commissioner to the UK, Kamalesh Sharma said in London.

Unfurling the National tricolour and addressing a large gathering of non resident Indians at 9, Kensington Palace, his residence on the occasion of India's 60th Independence Day, the High Commissioner said that 1.5 million NRIs in the UK had earned the admiration of the people and leadership of this country.

"The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, Prime Minister Tony Blair and his ministers all agree in saying that Indian community is a model in integration, self-reliance, acquisition of knowledge and not being a burden on the society," he said.

He noted that the NRI population which was 2 per cent of the British population contributed wealth to the extent of 4 to 5 per cent. Referring to bilateral relations, he said during the last two years Indian investors have made a significant mark here and India has jumped from 8th position a few years ago to 3rd position last year as far as foreign investment in the UK is concerned.

"Today the number of Indian companies in London is pushing the 500 market and they are growing quickly," he said.

The High Commissioner said the British Chamber of Commerce has taken a huge initiative in launching an 'India Fact File' of 135,000 companies on web site and it would be operational in October.

India's profile abroad is growing rapidly, particularly in Finland, Indian Ambassador Pradeep Singh said in Helsinki.

He was addressing a large gathering after unfurling the National Flag to celebrate the 60th Independence Day of India. The function was attended by an unusually large number of Indian expatriates despite being a working day, a report from Helsinki said. This reflected the growing presence of Indians in the country. Majority of the participants were IT professionals working for Indian companies and executing projects in Finland.

India's Independence Day was also celebrated in Budapest where over 130 members of the Indian community attended the flag hoisting ceremony at Indian Ambassador's residence.

The 60th Independence Day was also celebrated at the Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa. It was celebrated were fervour and gaiety in Italy. Ambassador of India Rajiv Dogra read out the President's address to the nation at a large gathering at the embassy. The function was attended by Indian nationals working with international organisations such as FAO, IFAD and WFP, an embassy release said.