US envoy to India Richard Rahul Verma being welcomed by his cousin Sonia Verma at her home in Apra village near Phillaur in Jalandhar.
JALANDHAR – It was an emotional homecoming for US envoy to India Richard Rahul Verma and his father Kamal Verma to their ancestral house in village Apra, near Phillaur, on Thursday.
Verma was on a two-day official trip to a few cities in Punjab. He met his cousins and attended a felicitation ceremony organized by villagers. The US ambassador was also accompanied by his father and his sister Amita.
The US Ambassador spoke to villagers and local politicians and said it was an honour to visit his father’s home and that he was proud of his roots in Punjab. “We are grateful to the people of Apra not only for their warmth but also for their support to my father, who spent his formative years in the village.? We look forward to returning to Punjab soon,” said Verma.
This was the envoy’s first visit after taking over the post last year. His father visited the village in 2011.
Shyam lal, a childhood friend of Kamal Verma, said his friend has shown willingness to grant scholarship for the two best girl students from the village school. “He also expressed willingness to open a library in his wife’s name in the village school,” said Lal.
He said the Verma family contributed a lot to education in the area. He said when Kamal Verma came to know about shortage of teachers in the girls school, he offered to hire a new teacher and agreed to pay the monthly salary too. Congress MP Santokh Chaudhary and former Cabinet Minister Avtaar Henry were present at Verma’s function.
While wrapping up his two-day trip, which included visit to Chandigarh and Ludhiana, the US ambassador said he experienced first-hand the “full range of innovative US-India partnerships and policy programs at work.”
He noted the “great strides that the US-India partnership have made in areas of public health research and program development.” The Ambassador also focused on the potential of commercial relationship and held a meeting with a group of local business leaders in Ludhiana.
