Melbourne, May 10/INDIAN ABROAD NEWSDESK
The Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) and the Federation of Indian Music Dance Victoria (FIMDV) jointly hosted a community meet-and-greet with Consul General of India in Melbourne Anish Rajan at the AICCT Hall in Melbourne, bringing together community leaders, cultural organisations, music school gurus and religious representatives from across the Indian diaspora.
The event served as a platform for organisations and community leaders to discuss their work and contributions towards strengthening and supporting the Indian community in Victoria.
During his address, the Consul General praised the efforts of the AICCT Trust in establishing a dedicated Indian Community Centre in Melbourne. He also commended the Museum India initiative led by Dr Dinesh Parekh, describing it as an important effort to preserve and showcase India’s heritage and history outside India.
Special recognition was given to FIAV Chair Vasan Srinivasan for promoting collaboration and unity among community organisations representing diverse cultural, religious and social backgrounds.
In his remarks, Srinivasan highlighted the importance of community support for the proposed “Little India Precinct” in Docklands and acknowledged the role of Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece and Councillor Roshena Campbell in supporting the initiative. He said FIAV and FIMDV were working with the City of Melbourne to advance the project.
Srinivasan also thanked Indian media organisations for supporting multicultural community initiatives. Media representatives attending the event included Natasha Chaku from SBS Hindi, Neeraj Nanda from South Asia Times and Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj from Australia Today.
Guests were served a traditional South Indian vegetarian dinner catered by Sri Anandha Bhavan, while the vote of thanks was delivered by Aparna Kumar from the Bihar Jharkhand Society of Melbourne.
The event reflected the growing contribution of the Indian diaspora towards strengthening Australia-India relations through culture, arts, community engagement and shared values.
