INDIAN CONSUL GENERAL
DR. K. SRIKAR REDDY Words by Jess Warren. Photo by Romain Garrigue.
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ext month marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. With this landmark year soon to commence, a flurry of celebrations are underway across Southeast Asia. In light of this, we caught up with Dr K Srikar Reddy, the Indian consul general based here in Ho Chi Minh City, to chat about the long-standing friendship and trading connections between India and Vietnam. India and Vietnam have a long-held friendship, going back to the 2nd century where the Cham Kingdom in central Vietnam existed until roughly the 17th century. With such a long-standing relationship, it is no wonder that celebrations for Indian-born Gandhi’s birth anniversary, held on October 2, will also be held in Vietnam. To kick off celebrations, the consulate is hiring a Vietnamese singer to record a video performance of Gandhi’s favourite song; Vaishnava Jana To. The video will be used across social media to spread awareness and grow an online following of further events throughout the year. Having inspired many international leaders such as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, it is 14 AsiaLIFE HCMC
hoped that teaching Gandhi’s principles during the celebrations will attract people to learn and understand his peaceful beliefs at a variety of seminars and cultural events throughout the city.
Long History
Sitting with Dr Reddy in his light and breezy office in District 3, he tells me how the friendship between Vietnam and India has grown and developed over thousands of years. When the Cham Kingdom existed in central Vietnam, many temples were constructed. “The My Son Temple complex is one example of these, it’s now marked out as a UNESCO world heritage site, built by the Cham people,” said Dr. Srikar Reddy. “The Buddhist faith is another strong link between the two countries. Throughout the years many connections have developed between India and Vietnam and this has helped to create and sustain a longstanding relationship.” Interestingly, the French rule led to an even closer connection between the two countries. Dr Reddy said many Indians from French territories, such as Pondicherry moved to
Vietnam. “After being brought here to help with the construction of roads, ports, banks and the postal network, many more Indians settled in Vietnam,” he said. “This was a major factor in the growth of the Indian population in Vietnam.” “At one point, there were 75,000 Indians dwelling in Ho Chi Minh City and Southern Vietnam. Due to this, there are now many Indian temples and mosques in Ho Chi Minh City, with two of the temples and one mosque being over 100 years old.”
Mass Exodus
However, following the war, a large proportion of the Indian population left Vietnam, leaving only a few hundred Indians after 1975. Slowly and surely, the Indian population is on the rise again, with a population of around 3,000 Indians now living in Ho Chi Minh City, and continuing to gradually increase. Much of the current Indian population are entrepreneurs, business men, and teachers at international schools. Within the Indian population here in Ho Chi Minh City, many large associations have been formed to facilitate interaction within the
