At LA Consulate, Garcetti, Industry Leaders Map Next Phase Of India-LA Ties
Photo: Garcetti won hearts spontaneously joining in dance moves onstage to the Oscar winning song ‘Naatu Naatu.’
India-West News Desk
LOS ANGELES, CA – Former US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti headlined the first event ever hosted at the Consulate General of India at the AON Center in downtown Los Angeles, an evening that highlighted the expanding strategic and cultural ties between Los Angeles and India.
Organized by India International Impact and the California India Chamber of Commerce, the gathering drew a largely American mainstream audience of civic business and cultural leaders.
Garcetti joined entrepreneur Gunjan Bagla in a fireside chat that reflected his deep personal affinity for India. “India taught us how to calculate how to worship and how to think,” Garcetti said, calling the country a place of endless opportunity and describing the bilateral relationship as a triumph of bridges over brinkmanship.
Consul General of India in Los Angeles K J Srinivasa outlined the theme of the evening, ‘LA and India Rising Skyward Together,’ describing it as not merely aspirational but reflective of a powerful reality. He said India stood at the cusp of historic transformation and that the growing partnership with Los Angeles was driven by strategic convergence rather than coincidence.
Srinivasa pointed to alignment between Make in India and Los Angeles’ advanced manufacturing base, India’s digital public infrastructure and Silicon Beach’s technology ecosystem, clean energy priorities shared with California, and the intersection of India’s expanding space ambitions with Los Angeles’ aerospace heritage.
“This is not a transactional relationship,” Srinivasa said. “It is a co creation partnership.” He noted that India’s opening of its space sector to private enterprise was unleashing innovation in satellite launches space applications and deep technology startups while Los Angeles remained home to companies shaping the future of aerospace commercial spaceflight and defence technologies.
The evening opened with a sarod performance by Stephen Day, who is a self-described “Western man with an Indian soul,” having studied in India under Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.
Ed Altman a board member of India International Impact recalled the long effort to secure a second Indian consulate in California, highlighting the role played by Bagla and his engagement with Garcetti during his tenure as ambassador.
A panel discussion on contemporary India followed. Bobak Ferdowsi of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory spoke about NISAR, the billion dollar satellite collaboration between India and the United States launched from India last July, which is now providing detailed global data on weather agriculture natural disasters and climate change.
Gary Ahwah, who has held senior roles at City of Hope Molina Healthcare and UnitedHealth, described offshore Indian teams in healthcare as delivering speed and scale rather than low cost labor.
Sonal Matai President Americas at Karl Storz said innovations developed by the company’s Indian engineers were being embedded in medical devices that could soon be used at leading hospitals such as Cedars Sinai.
The second half of the evening was moderated by Dick Drobnick Chairman Emeritus of the Asia Society of Southern California. In a candid conversation with Gene Seroka executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, Seroka warned that tariffs imposed on India were pushing the relationship backward. Drawing on his experience travelling frequently to India during his time at American President Lines, Seroka said a proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads could significantly accelerate trade between India and California. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on ports and supply chains and said US port officials learned from their counterparts at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Adani Ports as India’s economy benefited from GST reforms and improved rail infrastructure.
A final panel looked ahead to the future of India US relations. Brian MacMahon CEO of Expert Dojo predicted that India could produce as many as 1,800 unicorn startups in the years ahead. Wajenda Chambeshi from the office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass suggested that India establish an India Hospitality House during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and called for the revival of the long dormant sister city relationship between Los Angeles and Mumbai. Biotech executive Dave Whelan and founding CEO of BioScience LA ,spoke about the regulatory reimbursement and market entry challenges Indian life sciences companies face when entering the US market.
The audience included Oscar winner Parag Havaldar and his wife Chandrani Amgen chief of staff Jeff Chism whose company is investing 250 million dollars in a global capability centre in Hyderabad Japan House president Yuko Kaifu and Glenn Osaki special adviser to the president of USC.
Looking out from the 45th floor over the Los Angeles skyline Garcetti reflected, “In every light there is a story.” Consul General Srinivasa closed the evening with a poetic invocation, saying India and Los Angeles are not just rising together but rising because they are together, anchored in a shared purpose and a bold vision for the future.
