NEW DELHI: The significant media, cultural and entertainment engagement between India and the United States will be one of the primary subjects of discussion at the ninth Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Los Angeles next month.

Ways of strengthening ties between Bollywood and Hollywood would also be discussed in the meet to be held on 14 and 15 November.

The RPBD will be organised by the Consulate General of India in San Francisco and the India Embassy in Washington DC in collaboration with the major community organisations of People of Indian Origin in the USA and the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry.

Various official forums for India-US collaboration will also participate in the RPBD.

The RPBD Los Angeles will celebrate the presence of the single largest population of overseas Indians in any one country and strengthen the social, economic and political bonds between India, the USA and the Indian Diaspora.

India and the USA share a growing partnership in almost all sectors vital to their economies. Indian Americans have made a significant impact in IT, medicine, academia, banking, hospitality, science and technology and also as entrepreneurs engaged in thriving businesses. The RPBD Los Angeles will focus and build on these synergies and collaborations, through seminars and discussions involving major stake holders on both sides.

The concept of Pravasi Divas, which is to be held from 8 to 10 January in New Delhi next year, was given by a committee set up by then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to cement ties with the Diaspora. The date was chosen since it was on 9 January that Mahatma Gandhi emigrated from South Africa to India to lead the freedom struggle in the early part of the last century.