Indians are brilliant in every field, not just in Spelling Bee: PM Modi

PTI, Jun 23, 2023, 12:02 PM IST

Applauding the Indian community in the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that they are brilliant in every field, not just in Spelling Bee and have played a big role in the country’s relationship with America.

Prime Minister Modi’s remarks on Thursday came during his address to a joint session of the US Congress. He attributed a big part of the success of India-US ties to Indian-Americans.

Representing 1.4 billion Indians, Modi said it is always a great honour and an exceptional privilege to address the US Congress twice. This is the second time that the prime minister has addressed the US Congress, the first time being in 2016.

”In all this, Indian Americans have played a big role. They are brilliant in every field, not just in Spelling Bee. With their hearts and minds, talent and skills, and their love for America and India, they have connected us; they have unlocked doors; they have shown the potential of our partnership,” he said.

Spelling Bee is a prestigious contest where children of Indian origin have ruled the roost. Dev Shah, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Florida, has won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Shah correctly spelled the word to win the 95th national bee ”Today India and the US are working together, in space and in the seas, in science and in semi-conductors, in start-ups and sustainability, in tech and in trade, in farming and finance, in art and artificial intelligence, in energy and education, in healthcare and humanitarian efforts,” he said.

President Joe Biden also mentioned the contributions of Americans of Indian heritage in his administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, whose success stories define the relationship and the limitless possibilities between the two nations.

Harris, 58, was born in Oakland, California. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu in India, while her father, Donald J Harris, moved to the US from Jamaica.

Biden’s remarks came as he welcomed Prime Minister Modi at the White House on his first state visit.

He said a special bond between the two nations forged by the special bond among its people based on values like the duty to family and elders, treating all people with respect and dignity, self-discipline, hard work, faith and service to the community, courage, resilience and tolerance and opportunity for all which are universal.

A record 150-plus Indian-Americans serve in key positions in the Biden administration.

”The granddaughter — the proud granddaughter of an Indian civil servant; daughter of an Indian student, turned American scientist who came to the United States when she was only 19 years old to pursue her dream of curing cancer. A family like so many of ours in our nation. That speaks to the thousand stories of determination courage and hope in America,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi also praised the Indian diaspora and said the grand welcome accorded to him at the White House was an honour and pride for 1.4 billion people of India and more than 4 million people of Indian origin living in the US.

While addressing the State Dinner, Modi said that Indian Americans have played a significant role in the all-round development of the nation they live in and also in strengthening the India-US relationship.

More than 400 guests were invited for the dinner and they included big names in the tech world and billionaire industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra, Google CEO Sunder Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The National Bee is a high-profile, high-pressure endurance test as much as a nerd spelling match and spellers spend months preparing for it. Over the past 20 years, Indian-Americans have been dominating the Spelling Bee contest even though they comprise only about 1 per cent of the US population.

The US Spelling Bee reflects the dominance young children from the small ethnic community have had on this prestigious test for more than a decade now.

Since Balu Natarajan won it in 1985, more than 20 Indian-origin children have been crowned champions at the competition. The National Spelling Bee was launched in 1925.