“We proudly and heartily welcome the historical state visit by the Honorable Sri Narendra Modi ji, Prime Minister of the Republic of India to the United States and to the White House hosted by President Biden and First Lady Mrs. Jill Biden,” said Dr. Ravi Kolli, President and Dr. Vishweshwar Ranga, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Association of Physicians Of Indian Origin (AAPI) in a joint statement issued here.
Describing the meeting of leaders of the “two powerful and responsible democracies of the world joining together for global peace and prosperity as the greatest success story of our times,” the AAPI leadership called the Indo-US relationship as being “founded on eternal values and noble vision that honors human freedom, dignity and harmony and respect for all diverse cultures and civilizations.”
Pointing to how “India has contributed mightily throughout the millennia to the wisdom and knowledge of humanity and civilization and embraced multitudes of diverse cultures historically providing haven and inclusion for peaceful assimilation constituting the unique nation of Bharat that is India,” the statement said, “India has been the champion and leader of freedom, democracy, responsible and fair development of the global population. India has continuously succeeded defying many negative attitudes and flawed judgments and is now a global leader using its power and influence responsibly and wisely. It is living up to the adage that with great power comes great responsibility.”
While maintaining cherished values of inclusion, freedoms, rule of law, acceptance, and tolerance of diverse opinions and visions, India relentlessly pursued self-reliance proudly in all economic and development spheres of activities such as education, healthcare, technology, infrastructure, transportation, environmental stewardship, women’s and indigent welfare, India has accomplished a cultural and spiritual renaissance and emergence on the world stage being a positive influence and guidance to young minds yearning for deeper meaning and purpose of life, AAPI pointed out.
“India continues to be the greatest wellspring of human resources in every field of science, technologies, and arts and humanities enriching the entire world,” the statement said.
Highlighting how the Indian Diaspora has been the proud ambassadors of our motherland wherever and whenever the need has risen, AAPI emphasized the fact that “We participate peacefully and prominently in all our civic, social, and community responsibilities with dignity and honor befitting our heritage and roots.”
India’s accomplishments in the 75 years of her Independence is nothing but “most stunningly remarkable while preserving and protecting our democracy and constitutional republic,” AAPI said.
In 1947, the life expectancy of an average Indian citizen was around 32 years, and it has increased to 70.19 years in 2022, which is over a 100 percent increase (life expectancy is one of the most important and most used indicators for human development). In the 1940s, the Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 2000/100,000 live births, MMR has declined to 103 in 2017-19. Regarding medical education there are now 612 medical colleges in India as compared to 28 in the 1950s with over 92,000 seats. In 1951, India had only 50,000 doctors for a total population of 360 million population. The number of doctors today has reached nearly 1.2 million for a population of 1.3 billion almost reaching the WHO targeted doctor-patient ratio.
referring to some of the major initiatives of AAPI benefitting their motherland, India, the statement stated, AAPI also has been championing the TB elimination campaign in India for many years through its CETI initiative and planning to join hands Ni-Akshay Mitra Initiative officially soon. AAPI has been doing Adopt a Village preventive health screening in the past year in 75 villages in India to commemorate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and has completed screening over 10,000 rural citizens in over 62 villages so far.
American Association of Physicians of India origin AAPI has formed 41 years ago and is now the largest ethnic medical organization in the USA representing more than120,000 medicals professional in the USA and is deeply engaged in medical education in India through its mentorship activities with medical students in India and annual Global Healthcare Summit program bring together medical experts and academicians from the USA and India to interact with medical students and postgraduates in India with educational seminars and workshops at the summit.
“At AAP, we continue to engage in serving our motherland and feel proud of India’s progress under the able and noble, resolute and responsive leadership of Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji,” Dr. Kolli and Dr. Ranga added.
