The Embassy of India in Antananarivo celebrated today the 73rd Anniversary of India’s Independence Day. On this occasion, a flag hoisting ceremony was held in the morning, at the Embassy Residence, during which Indian nationals, Persons of Indian Origin and friends of India were present. In the afternoon, a formal reception was also organized for dignitaries from Malagasy government, and institutions, members of Diplomatic Corps and Friends of India.
On 15th August 1947, India became independent. It is a day of great significance for the people of India around the world, including Madagascar.
On the occasion of the India’s Independence Day Celebration, the Ambassador, HEM Abhay Kumar read out the President of India’s message to the gathering. It was also an opportunity to the Ambassador to highlight the cooperation in various fields between Madagascar and India. The two countries have excellent diplomatic relationship since 1954. India is partnering with Madagascar in many fields including trade and commerce, agriculture, health, education, culture, energy, defence, tourism, among others.
Agriculture: Line of Credit of US$ 25 Million and additional Line of Credit of $ 2.5 million for raising productivity of rice and setting of fertilizer plants in Madagascar. Another fresh Line of Credit of $80.72 million has been approved by the Government of India in June 2019 for farm mechanization, irrigation and food processing projects in four regions of Madagascar. Centre for Geo-informatics Applications in Rural Development (CGARD) funded by India was established in Antananarivo in 2018. Presently two Indian scientists are working here to assist the Ministry of Agriculture in Madagascar.
Health: Bhabhatron-II cancer treatment machine worth more than 1 million donated to HJRA Hospital, Antananarivo in March 2018, it will be inaugurated soon. Tele-medicine: A fresh project for e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (telemedicineø and teleeducation) has been proposed to Madagascar.
Aid assistance: Total Aid assistance as grant of $ 2.8 million has been extend to Madagascar to fight natural disasters and other purposes apart from grant of 1000 Metric Tonnes of rice and 100 Tonnes of medicine to the South region of Madagascar.
Education: Every year more than 140 training slots, ranging from short-term courses to post-doctoral degree courses, are allotted to Madagascar under various capacity building programmes. 100,000 books from India will soon be delivered to Madagascar.
Tele-education: Madagascar has been a beneficiary of the Pan Africa e-network project. Tele-education facilities offered in collaboration with Imailaka University benefitted 228 students since the start of the project.
Cultural exchange: A 10-member Contemporary Indian Dance group visited Madagascar in August 2018.
15 Malagasy crafts persons participated in the prestigious ‘Surajkund Crafts Festival’ in India in 2018. Festival of India will be celebrated in Madagascar in 2019-20.
Defence: Within the framework of existing MOU for Defence Cooperation betweenø India and Madagascar, several new initiatives and proposals are under consideration. Indian naval ships have been making goodwill visits to Madagascar ports for many years.
Tourism: A familiarization trip for 3 journalists and 3 Tour operators from Madagascar is planned in 2019. Ministry of Tourism, Madagascar is also going to organize a road show in major cities of India to attract Indian tourists to visit Madagascar.
Energy: Two solar engineers from Barefoot College, Rajasthan visited Madagascar in July 2019 to set up Barefoot College, Madagascar and train Malagasy solar Mamas. Madagascar and India are members of International Solar Alliance and a number of a solar power projects proposed by Madagascar is under consideration of Government of India.
C-GARD: Centre for Geo-informatics Applications in Rural Development (CGARD) funded by India was established in Antananarivo in 2018. Presently two Indian scientists are working there to assist the Ministry of Agriculture in Madagascar.
Tele-medicine: A fresh project for e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (telemedicine and tele-education) has been proposed to Madagascar.
In his speech at the reception hosted by the Ambassador, he said “I commend President Andry Rajoelina and his dynamic team including all who are present here on the stage for (i) bringing political stability to the country; (ii) restoring law and order which will act as a catalyst for attracting investments to Madagascar and (iii) for articulating a vision for the rapid development in Madagascar through his Le Emergence de Madagascar initiative. This initiative focuses on three key areas agriculture, energy and biodiversity & tourism among others. India is working very closely with Madagascar in all these three areas to make the vision of President Andry Rajoelina a reality.” He also announced that India is going to celebrate a year day Festival of India in Madagascar in 2019-20 which will showcase rich culture of India to the people of Madagascar.
Speech of Minister of Foreign Affairs, HEM. Naina Andriantsitohaina, onthe occasion of the 73rd India Independence Day celebrations
