On the occasion of the 57th anniversary of our Independence Day, I extend my warm felicitations and best wishes to all my fellow Indians and their families, to all the friends of India, as indeed to all readers of this esteemed newspaper.
India attained independence on this day in 1947. This was the culmination of a long and difficult struggle for freedom at a great cost and sacrifice made by our martyrs, freedom fighters and our people. Our thoughts naturally go to those men and women who laid down their lives for the sake of independence of the country so that we and future generations could live freely. We owe our freedom to them and to all our leaders who participated in the freedom struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
The independence of India also had its ramification globally since it sparked the decolonization of many countries throughout the world. Centuries of colonization and occupation took away India’s riches and left it poor at the time of independence. However, the past more than five decades of nation building have seen India emerge as a very strong country.
The economic, industrial and technological progress made by India speaks about the inherent resilience of our system and determination, commitment and strength of our people and our democratic institutions. While we move and progress into the future, we have to also defend and preserve our freedom and its value. Let us all, on this occasion, renew our commitment to continue to build our nation together for the better future and better life for everyone.
India attaches great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia. We have had exceptionally friendly ties that are based on civilizational contacts, cultural interaction and traditionally close relations between our peoples. We value and cherish this closeness, which has over a period of time, translated into enormous economic cooperation, which has the potential of further tremendous growth.
Today, our bilateral trade has grown over $5.10 billion. India’s continued economic reforms and resultant growth of the economy has attracted the attention of leading Saudi entrepreneurs and businessmen toward India and we are quite confident that the Indo-Saudi economic cooperation is poised for an exponential growth in times to come.
The large Indian community in Saudi Arabia has made useful contribution to the development process in the Kingdom by building strong and lasting bridges of friendship and cordiality between our two countries. Our people are a source of strength to us. They supplement and complement the efforts of our embassy and the consulate in developing and nurturing relations between India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
With complete dedication to work, strong cultural values and ethos of religious tolerance, abhorrence to violence, easy assimilation traits and friendly nature, the Indian community has made a distinctive place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We feel proud to be the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom. We look up to the Indian community with gratitude for their efforts and for helping us in discharging our work as well as for building and strengthening goodwill between our two countries.
The Consulate General of India always endeavors to work in a responsive and responsible manner to take care of the growing needs and expectations of the Indian Diaspora in the Western Province. The consulate is community oriented and proactive in strengthening bilateral relations as well as serving our community with new vigor and zeal.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to extend warm felicitations to the friendly people of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Indian community and on my own behalf.