India is a global leader with breakthrough innovations, American businessman and Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said as he joined Indian Americans to celebrate the first ever India Independence Day celebrations of the newly-opened Indian Consulate in Seattle.

Bill Gates, chairman of the Gates Foundation, flagged off the first India Day celebrations in the Greater Seattle area as Consulate General of India as Seattle`s Guest of Honor, on India`s 78th Independence Day, a media release said. Addressing the nearly 2,000 plus members of the Indian American community, he referred to India `as a global leader with breakthrough innovations in areas like technology, agriculture and healthcare`.