"It is great honour for me personally. I remember having recommended others for the honour in the past but never thought it would come to me," Shenoy told IANS. The award picks only one person from each country every year.

Shenoy, who is originally from Goa with strong connections in Karnataka, has been in the US for well over two decades. Primarily interested in the diamond business, he said he decided to diversify because of the fluctuating conditions. He is the president of the Trivision Group, Inc.

In 1993, when a relatively unknown George Pataki decided to jump into the race for governor of New York, Shenoy decided to throw his weight behind the Republican leader.

"I did not think Governor Pataki could win but out of a personal friendship with Senator Alfonse Marcello D'amato I decided to stand by him. I helped raise funds for his campaign. A lot of people thought I was backing the wrong horse," Shenoy, a diamond, real estate and software businessman, recalled.

On the day the results were to be declared, Shenoy and some of his friends got together to "celebrate Pataki's defeat" because they had done their best and could not do much more than preparing for what they thought was a defeat.

Then the news came that, in fact, their candidate had won. "From then till now the governor has not forgotten us. He values our friendship now as much as he did then," Shenoy said.

That is evident, with Shenoy being awarded so many years later.

Now Shenoy is working on a visit by Pataki to India. The original plan was to visit in May last year but because of India's parliamentary elections, the plan was put on hold.

"I have always been passionate about building ties between the state of New York and India because I see some strong alliances," Shenoy said.

"We are planning to go later this year. We have not finalised the date yet but it will probably be after September when Governor Pataki visits China. I am travelling with him there as well," Shenoy said.

The proposed India visit will be a focused one with the governor specifically exploring business opportunities between the state and India.

"We are looking at bilateral trade in terms of infrastructure, IT, biotech and finance. There are tremendous opportunities between the companies in the state and India.

In the context of the Indian American community's involvement with politics, Shenoy said, "We should be everywhere irrespective of the party. Our focus should be on anyone is who is helpful to our cause and India. I have friends both among the Democrats and Republicans."

Asked why many more Indian Americans tend to support the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, Shenoy said, "Because minorities think Republicans support only the rich. That is of course not true. It is a question of perception. I am not a big, wealthy businessman. But I see a lot of strengths in the Republican Party."

Shenoy said bilateral relations between India and the US had picked up much greater momentum under President George W. Bush than before. "So, one cannot make a general statement that only one party is good for the community," he said.