Speaking at the third India-US Leadership Summit organised virtually by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), Indian-origin Republican leader Nikki Haley said she wants the four million strong Indian diaspora to get more involved in American politics and run for government and public offices in larger numbers.
“Whether it is a Republican or Democrat, get involved, don’t just get involved by vote,” she said.
“Get involved by running, get involved within government offices, in public sectors,” said Haley. “I think Indians are so good at everything they touch, it’s a natural progression to have them get involved in politics as well.”
The first Indian American politician to get cabinet rank as US ambassador to the UN in Trump administration, Haley asked the Indian American community to embrace and “brag about their achievements and not hide behind their traditional humility and shyness.”
“I am proud of the Indian community of the US. I am proud of their work ethic, of their assimilation, of the value that the Indian diaspora brings to all sectors of American life,” Haley later tweeted.
“I’d like diaspora to get more involved in American politics and carry the legacy of their parents’ generation forward by participating actively in American political movements,” she wrote.
Turning to India-US relations, Haley said President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have developed a very special working relationship and one of trust.
“One of the facts that they are both committed to moving our countries forward and I think that that’s something to be said where you can tell that there’s a lot of confidence there,” she said.
"The Indo-Pacific strategy was one acknowledging something that should have been there all along, which is that the US and India should be natural allies,” she added.