CIF holds farewell dinner in honour of India’s Consul General Preeti Saran

Canada India Foundation holds farewell dinner dialogue event in honour of India’s Consul General Preeti Saran

Toronto, July 30, 2013: Canada India Foundation (CIF) held a special dinner event on July 30, 2013 at the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto Airport, Mississauga, in honour of Mrs. Preeti  Saran, India’s Consul General  in Toronto, on the eve of her leaving her current position to take up the position of India’s Ambassador to Vietnam. CIF Charter Members attending the event included Lucky Lakshmanan, Laj Prasher, Vasu Chanchlani, Atul Tolia, Deepak Ruparell, Pankaj Dave, Ramesh Chotai, Surjit Babra, Ajit Someshwar, Sudhir Handa and Terry Papneja.

In a departure from the traditional format for such events, CIF Charter members, spouses and special guests from the community joined Mrs. Saran in a round-table format facilitating candid and informal dialogue. Speaking first, Dr. “Lucky” Lakshmanan, the new Chair of Canada India Foundation, emphasized CIF’s mandate of public policy advocacy and recounted some of its major initiatives in this context including funding, both organizationally and through its members, India focused studies and research in major Canadian universities, and the active engagement with India’s former President, Dr. Abdul Kalam, culminating in his three visits to Canada. He acknowledged and expressed appreciation for Mrs. Saran’s support for those initiatives. He spoke of Mrs. Saran’s willingness to participate in as many community events as possible, despite her long working hours necessitated by the time difference between Canada and India. In praising her commitment to punctuality, a trait not usually associated with the community, he recalled a specific book release event co-organized earlier in the month by CIF at Rotman School of Management, on the day when Greater Toronto experienced its heaviest rainfall in history. Mrs. Saran was one of the first to arrive, on time driving from her home in North Toronto when, due to the weather, some of the other invitees either arrived quite late or were not able to come at all.

The forum offered all guests the opportunityto offer their personal compliments to the Consul General and also ask her questions about her tenure, her interaction with CIF and other Indo-Canadian organizations and her thoughts on how CIF can move forward in fulfillment of its mandate. Mrs. Saran applauded CIF’s initiatives, particularly the organization of the Energy Forum and the Mining Forum in Toronto, its support of events such as Panorama and Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and also its public advocacy initiatives, especially in countering anti-India positions taken by fringe Indo-Canadian elements and supported by some MPs. She gave three pointers for CIF as well as other Indo-Canadian organizations to be more effective, without losing their unique identities:

$1-          Collaboration, working with each other for greater efficiencies and public impact

$1-          Coordination, having a consistent and continued dialogue with both Canadian and Indian governments on shared values and matters of importance

$1-          Organization, planning and timeliness-focused management of events

Asked about her own rating of her performance during her tenure, Mrs. Saran gave herself modest grades but the audience was of the unanimous view that through her leadership, public visibility and participation, her performance would rate a 11 out of 10.

Mrs. Saran was presented with a polar bear sculpture made a Native Canadian Inuit artist, and a book of photographs that shaped Canada’s history, as momentos of her stay in Canada. Giving the vote of thanks, CIF’s new National Convenor Laj Prasher extended an invitation to Mrs. Saran to return to Toronto to be CIF’s honoured guest at its Gala next April.