Speech by Ambassador at Reception on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the Independence Day of India, 15 August 2018 at Ashoka Restaurant, Bratislava

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, and dear friends,

Namaste, Dobry vecher. I am immensely pleased to welcome you to the celebration of the 71st anniversary of Independence Day of India at this magnificent Indian restaurant.

I would like to begin by congratulating Slovak Republic on various anniversaries it is celebrating this year, including the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries.

71 years ago, on this day, a new India was born as a free country after over a century of foreign rule over some parts of India.

India faced many challenges at the dawn of its independence. Not only it had to overcome the trauma of partition, it had to grapple with the difficult process of integration of over 550 princely states, comprehend the diversity of its people and their aspirations to give shape to a Constitution that every citizen of India could be proud of and most importantly to begin a tenuous process of rebuilding a nation.

Today, India is a proud nation of over 1.25 billion people and a major global player in almost every field of human activity while remaining steadfast to the values that bind the nation. Over the last 71 years, India has made many great strides in ensuring the economic and social wellbeing of its people and contributed to the global peace, security and prosperity.

Our economic growth has been steady. We made many exemplary achievements in diverse fields, including agriculture. The green revolution of India not only made the nation self-sufficient in food production but also made it one of the major exporting nations of agricultural commodities.

India’s achievements in the field of space, information technology, pharmaceuticals and service industry are well recognized.

But the most notable achievement of the country is the preservation of the democracy, the individual freedoms enshrined in our constitution, the equality of opportunity to every Indian citizen, the independence of judiciary and truly secular character of our nation. These are the values, which are deep rooted in Indian civilization and are dear to every Indian citizen.

The last four years have been especially remarkable. The Government of India has launched many flagship programs like Make in India, Start up India, Digital India, Skill India, Smart Cities, Clean India, along with several administrative and economic reforms to support India’s sustainable economic growth and development.

The reforms have begun to pay back. India’s US dollar 2.6 trillion economy is expected to grow by 7.3% this year and 7.5% next year. India is expected to drive the engine of the global economic growth for the next three decades. You have to visit India to witness the kind of changes taking place in the country.

The year 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the Slovak Republic. The multifaceted relations between the two countries have witnessed a steady growth during these 25years, characterized by goodwill, mutual respect and understanding.

These relations further intensified in last one year with visits by the Foreign and European Affair Minister H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajcak and State Secretary H.E. Mr. Lukas Parizek to India and visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs H.E. Mr. M. J. Akbar to Slovak Republic. A new activity started by the Embassy in the last one year is to conduct free yoga classes at the Embassy. You are all welcome to take advantage of these classes.

We hope to further intensify these relations with the proposed visit of the Speaker of Indian Parliament to the Slovak Republic in the next one year and commencement of the operation of the Jaguar Land Rover automobile manufacturing plant in the Slovak Republic next month. As you may be aware Jaguar Land Rover is fully owned by the Tata Group of India.

Another major event next year will be the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. We will commence the anniversary celebration on 2nd October this year and continue till 2nd October 2020. There are several activities and events planned as part of this celebration. We look forward to receiving your cooperation and support in organizing these activities and events in the Slovak Republic.

I am confident that the friendship between the people of the two countries and bilateral relations between two governments will continue to flourish and achieve new heights.

I congratulate all my compatriots on the 71st anniversary of India’s independence and the citizens of both countries on the 25 years of establishment of diplomatic relations.

I thank Mr. Akshay Kumar Dixit and Mrs. Bandana Dixit for offering this magnificent venue for this year’s celebration of India’s national day. Mr. and Mrs. Dixit came to Slovakia over 30 years ago and made it their home. Today this restaurant, owned by them, is a home away from home for Indians visiting Slovak Republic. I am confident that you will enjoy the food.

We have also arranged a short cultural performance, following my speech, in the form of a sitar recital by an eminent sitar player Mr. Azeem Ahmed Alvi. Hope you will enjoy the performance.

I thank you all for joining the celebration.

I wish you all good health, well-being and prosperity.

Please enjoy the evening. Dyakuyem.