Indian American community leader Srinivasa passes away

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

An Indian American business leader and a man who devoted his life to strengthening U.S.-India relations, Krishna V. Srinivasa, passed away on November 18, 2024, in Florida.

Director of U.S. India Security Council, Srinivasa was a pioneer in Software Development/IT Staffing advocacy for U.S.-India relations. Srinivasa was a delegate in the National White House Conference on Small Business and Past President – Indian American Forum for Political Education.

“He passed away after being hospitalized in Florida,” Ramesh Kapur, president at U.S. India Security Council shared the news with indica. He called Srinivasa a pioneer in many ways, especially in Software Development/IT Staffing advocacy for US-India relations and his great commitment and work in strengthening the relations of the two democracies.

“He was a delegate in the National White House Conference on Small Business and Past President – Indian American Forum for Political Education. Please keep Krishna and their family/friends in your thoughts during this difficult time,” Kapur said.

Srinivasa was one of the first entrepreneurs to bring Indian programmers into the USA in the 1980s. His company – Professional Consulting Services – was a pioneer in software development, data processing, and staffing. He mentored many IT companies that flourished into huge companies, including the U.S. operations of TCS (Tata Consultancy Services).

A businessman based in Atlanta, Georgia, Srinivasa did his Master’s Degrees in Economics and Information Systems and had over 30 years of experience in Data Processing. He was the Past President of the Indian American Forum for Political Education, Co-chair of Asian Americans for Reagan-Bush, 1984; Chair of Indian Americans for Bush-Quayle 1988, 1992, and President of Professional Consulting Services, 1980-1998.

He supported the campaigns of President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. He planned, organized, and raised funds, with the support of Indian Americans, for the re-election campaign of Senator John McCain, Chairman, of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, in Washington, D.C. in 2016. He had also organized a second and more successful fundraiser, with the Indian American community leader, Dr Gautam Shah in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 26, 2016.

“He was a Republican from day one and we were very close and we were very few of us working on shaping U.S.-India relation along with Ramesh Kapur,” Dr Sampat Shivangi, the president of Indian American Forum for Political Education told indica. Shivangi added he was the president of the forum before him.

Reflecting on days when Krishna was active and hosted a luncheon for former Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao when he visited U.S., he said, “Krishna and Rao were close friends. Both were Telegu, and it was the early 90’s. I remember sitting beside former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was a finance minister then.”

“We enjoyed those days,” Shivangi said and added, “We were just one hour-long flight apart and did many things together. We did a fundraiser for a presidential candidate.”

Though he was not involved much in politics for the past 10 years, he attended the RNC convention in Cleveland, Ohio. “I was a delegate and he joined as my guest convention.”