US-based journalist Fareed Zakaria and Indian-American physician Sudhir M Parikh have said that they are deeply honoured and humbled after being chosen for the prestigious Padma awards this year.
"I am deeply honoured and humbled. I am absolutely delighted to be in the company of people with extraordinary achievements," Zakaria told PTI after the Indian government nominated him for the prestigious Padma Bhushan awards.
Zakaria said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deserves enormous credit for having moved India towards the path of greater degree of comfort and strategic insight.
"I believe India and the US are moving on a path of inevitable partnership," Zakaria said as he pointed out that India's natural place is with the great powers of the world.
"(There are) so many broad forces pushing these two countries together -- from strategic forces to cultural forces to intellectual force. I believe that we would see the 21st century in which the US and India ideas, interest, values and increasingly cooperate on the global stage," he said.
Philanthropist and publisher Parikh said that he was "deeply honoured and humbled" by the Indian government's decision to confer on him the prestigious Padma Shri award.
"I also recognise the responsibility of living up to this honour by redoubling my efforts to further US-India relations, and making greater efforts at community service on both sides of the Atlantic," Parikh said in a statement.
