India to hold Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Los Angeles in November

With a view to further increase people-to-people contacts between India and the United States, it has been announced that India will be holding a regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) in Los Angeles in November this year.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker earlier welcomed India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman for the first U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.

Both, India and the United States, appreciated the intense engagement between the two countries under various institutional bilateral dialogue mechanisms and people-to-people contacts.

Both sides assessed that ties between the United States and India have never been stronger - as reflected by unprecedented strategic cooperation, record levels of bilateral trade and investment, and more than 2 million annual visits between their citizens, students, and entrepreneurs.

Both the countries pledged to build on this momentum by pursuing new areas of collaboration, leveraging the talents of government and the private sector to make their nations more secure and prosperous.