News release from US Senator Richard Lugar:
Lugar Visits with Indiana Sister Cities Representatives
(March 10, 2011) – Last week, Senator Dick Lugar met with Sister Cities representatives from Indianapolis and Fort Wayne as part of the 55th anniversary of Sister Cities International.
“The Sister Cities program is one of our nation’s oldest and best forms of people-to-people diplomacy,” said Lugar. “The social and cultural connections and exchanges the program fosters lead to tremendous economic opportunities for Hoosier communities. Sister City delegations from Indiana to China, Germany, India and Japan have all resulted in increased trade and job growth back in our state, in both our agriculture and manufacturing sectors. As such, I want to congratulate all those participants from Indiana who have made the outreach, travel and hosting efforts that have made Sister Cities such a successful program.”
The Sister City International began in 1956 under President Eisenhower as part of his National League of Cities initiative, and became its own entity in 1967. Currently there are some 2,000 U.S. communities partnering with cities across the globe. Twenty cities in Indiana participate in the program. A few participating Indiana communities include:
Indianapolis  – Campinas (Brazil), Cologne (Germany), Hangzhou (China), Hyderabad (India), Monza (Italy), Northhamptonshire County (England), Piran (Slovenia) and Taipei Municipality (Taiwan)
Fort Wayne – Gera (Germany), Plock (Poland) and Takaoka (Japan)
Evansville – Osnabruck (Germany), Tochigi-Shi (Japan) and Newburgh Newburgh (England)