Mbabane: India on Sunday celebrated its 75th Independence Day.
The Indian high commission in Eswatini also held a prestigious celebration to commemorate India’s Independence.
The event was held at the royal villas and was hosted by the Indian High Commissioner to Eswatini Ms Radha Venkataraman.
The 75th Independence Day celebrations coincided with two years of the resident High Commission for India in Eswatini.
Making her address Venkataraman stated that these two years have flown by in spite of the ups and downs the High Commission, as well as the World, Eswatini have gone through during this period.
In these two years, the High Commission has continued to be proactive in its efforts towards constant and continuous engagements at all levels and with people from all walks of life in the Kingdom.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for all of us but has not succeeded in dampening my or my team’s spirits. The cooperation received from each and every emaSwati for helping the High Commission to function smoothly and effectively.
Read the Full speech below
Am very happy that you could all join Team High Commission of India, Mbabane for the 75th Independence Day celebrations which is coinciding with two years of the resident High Commission for India in Eswatini.
These two years have flown by in spite of the ups and downs the High Commission as well as the World, Eswatini have gone through during this period.
The ongoing Covid19 pandemic has made it difficult for all of us but has not succeeded in dampening my or my team’s spirits. The cooperation received from each and every Emaswati for helping the fledgling High Commission to function smoothly and effectively is heartening and much appreciated.
In these two years, the High Commission has continued to be proactive in its efforts towards constant and continuous engagements at all levels and with people from all walks of life in the Kingdom.
India’s development partnership with Africa is based on the 10 principles of India’s engagement announced by the Hon Prime Minister of India in July 2018. According to these principles, India will work, together with Eswatini, for a just, representative, and democratic global order that has a voice and a role for one-third of humanity that lives in India and Africa.
India’s Lines of Credit extended to Eswatini in the past for setting up of the Royal Science and Technology Park and for Agricultural Development through farm mechanization and technology transfer on high yielding maize production were completed in 2017-18 and the scheduled repayment dates to the EXIM Bank of India for these two soft loans are being met by Eswatini on time which will be coming to a conclusion in the very near future.
Necessary agreements have been signed recently for India’s new offer of two Lines of Credit to Eswatini on infrastructure / IT projects which have been approved by the Government of India guided by Eswatini’s requirement and request.
The repayment schedule for these two new Lines of Credit carries a moratorium period of 5 years from the date of release of the first installment of the loan which may still take a substantial period of time as the detailed project reports for the projects are yet to be prepared and finalized. India has extended these Lines of Credit to Eswatini to intensify and deepen the development partnership between our two friendly countries on the basis of specific requests submitted by Eswatini to the Government of India before the first-ever State visit of the Hon President of India to Eswatini in April 2018.
India is looking forward to welcoming Eswatini into the folds of the International Solar Alliance. Joining the International Solar Alliance will assist Eswatini, with other member countries of the Alliance, in scaling up solar applications for agricultural use, affordable finance, setting up its solar mini-grids and solar rooftops, and scaling up solar e-mobility and storage in the Kingdom.
The Alliance was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 November 2015 by H.E. Mr. Narendra Modi, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, and H.E. Mr. Francois Hollande, former President of France, in the presence of the then Secretary-General of UN. It is a treaty-based international organization. The Parties to the Framework Agreement for the Alliance have established it to • mobilize more than USD 1,000 billion into solar power by 2030 • accelerate the development and deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity in member countries to meet energy demands and to bring prosperity, energy security and sustainable development. The headquarters of the International Solar Alliance is in India.
India is also awaiting Eswatini to join the Pan African initiative on e-learning called e-Vidyabharati and e-Arogyabharati which are schemes for academic education in both general and medical fields through virtual means. This Project of India seeks to provide good quality, affordable and effective tele-education and tele-medicine education (including e-education and medical e-consultation) services by linking premier educational institutions and hospitals in India with those from participating countries in Africa through virtual means. Joining this initiative will benefit Emaswati students to avail of some of the 15000 scholarships being offered over a period of 5 years. 17 countries in Africa have already joined this initiative and are benefiting from it.
India has now come to be known as the Pharmacy of the World. In spite of the devastating effect of the pandemic on India it has continued to assist other countries in the world on the supply of medicines and vaccines to combat COVID-19. After the development partnership offer of essential medicines worth E3 million in June 2020 to Eswatini, as a part of the one million doses of vaccines gifted to Africa, India provided 20,000 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines to Eswatini in March 2021, the first doses to arrive in the Kingdom, to kick start its vaccination process.
With the recommendation of the High Commission, NDMA, Eswatini’s proposal seeking funding from India Brazil South Africa Fund has been successful with IBSA Secretariat approving about US $ 1 Million for NDMA’s WASH initiative in Eswatini. The relevant stakeholders are being coordinated by UNDP, Eswatini for releasing the funding to NDMA to implement the programme. I am hoping that swift action will be taken by all concerned to prudently utilize this funding for the benefit of Emaswati.
The High Commission of India, Mbabane was one of the first diplomatic Missions in Mbabane to have joined the Clean Eswatini campaign by sponsoring a brochure for them and the Plant a Tree and Save the Environment Campaign of the Kingdom by planting indigenous trees in large numbers at the Coronation and Selection Parks in Mbabane.
Some of our outreach programmes have also been to collaborate with local NGOs and officials of the Chiefdoms in creating a tool room for the Nkilongo Community Kitchen Garden, construction of a soup kitchen for the Ntondozi community, donation of 100 blankets made by Vukani BoMake to the elders at the Philani Maswati community at Mantjonga, sponsoring a mini bazaar at Albert Million for the Eswatini Mums, a social media initiative inspired by me to provide an online platform for Mumpreneurs to find access to more and more clients to improve on their livelihood endeavors, to contribute sanitary pads to BAWSS on the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day and some disposable and re-useable masks to a small community in Nkwalini through a community volunteer.
Through its existing capacity-building training programme popularly known as ITEC, India offers to Eswatini, among 161 partner countries, regular short-term training programmes in diverse fields. These training programmes have turned virtual due to the pandemic and continues to generate a lot of interest here and has resulted in some special and some regular virtual training programme for more than 180 Emaswati officers including seven officers from the Election Commission on electoral technology, 47 auditors from Auditor General’s office on Compliance and Performance Audits, 42 Legal officers under the Attorney General’s office on legislative drafting, 24 NDMA and M/o Justice officials on gender-inclusive governance for policymakers, 12 Trainers from the Vocational Training Centre on TVET for meeting SDGs of UN. The High Commission continues to disseminate information this year on the various eITEC courses announced every three months for wide participation from interested Ministries and Department.
Happy also to report here that the regular academic scholarships being offered to Eswatini with 25 slots per year are being utilized fully by Emaswati students for undergoing undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. courses in India. In fact, in the last academic year, the High Commission has been able to get 5 more slots bringing the total to 30 and in this academic year we have gone a step further by getting 20 more slots for Eswatini, as a special case, over and above the 25 fully utilized scholarships bringing it to a total of 45 slots in 2021-22.
I have been appointed the Chief Patron of the Eswatini Chess Federation. To ensure that my Patronship proves fruitful, I have assisted the Federation in signing an MoU with the All India Chess Federation for active engagement in all spheres between the two Federations for the game of Chess to scale newer heights in the Kingdom. I have also got ECF a gift of 50 Chess sets from the All India Chess Federation. I will also be sponsoring their Tournaments in all four regions under the auspices of India @ 75 celebrations by the High Commission in Eswatini.
In the two years of the High Commission in Mbabane, we have been successful in networking with the media houses, both print and visual, and our efforts to spread the knowledge of India, its culture including the goodness of Yoga has borne fruit. This year for the International Day of Yoga, we have been able to organize several curtain-raisers and yoga awareness camps in different parts of the country like Timphini (with Shukuma Eswatini), at Ezulwini for the Municipal Council, at Good Shepherd College of Nursing at Siteki and a local gym in Matsapha. The media houses have given wide coverage to our various outreach programmes and events. Eswatini TV and Channel S are looking into regular telecasts of Indian movies and documentaries shared with them by the High Commission. We appreciate the goodwill shown towards our efforts and we look forward to intensifying our interactions with the media houses.
The High Commission has created India Corners in the National Libraries of Mbabane and Manzini with free wifi and a few computers with a wealth of information on India and all that it offers to the rest of the world. Soon the set of books meant for the corner will arrive for the reading pleasure of Emaswati. The Corners will be officially launched soon but we hope that interested readers will flock to the Library in large numbers even before that.
Our interactions with the Diaspora community have been sustained and continuous throughout these two years. Most of the Consular services required by them have been extended to them in spite of the lockdowns and with their active participation, we have celebrated Indian festivals, National Days, and Yoga Day virtually. We thank each and everyone in the Diaspora for the wholehearted support they have given us.
The Government of India and my team in the High Commission have been perturbed by the recent violent unrest in the peaceful Kingdom leading to extensive destruction to business, property, and loss of numerous lives. We mourn with the families who have lost their loved ones and the businesses who have lost their livelihood. Particularly concerning to us has been the heavy losses to our brethren who have been living and working in peaceful Eswatini for decades. I take this opportunity to thank all concerned in the local Government for having heeded my SoS calls and for initiating immediate remedial action to protect the lives of my compatriots. While assisting the Emaswati businesses to find their own feet again, we hope that the Interests of the Indian business community too would be kept in mind by the authorities in Eswatini. This gesture would reassure the Indian community and would also acknowledge their contributions to the economy of the country. We are confident that Eswatini would endeavor in earnest to address the issues facing the country now and find an inclusive amicable solution through a process of dialogue to emerge ever stronger.
On behalf of the Government of India and my Team in Mbabane, I conclude by extending my warm greetings to His Majesty King Mswati III, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, the Government, and the people of Eswatini, and thank you all once again for joining us today. Siyabonga kakhulu.
Namaskar.
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