New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI) Ahead of the first-ever presidential visit from India to Timor-Leste, a top Ministry of External Affairs official said here on Friday that New Delhi will soon set up an embassy in Dili, which will make the Delhi-Dili connect stronger.
Dili is the capital city of Timor-Leste MEA Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar told reporters here that Timor-Leste has also announced its intention to open its embassy in New Delhi.
President Droupadi Murmu will undertake a six-day visit to Fiji, New Zealand and Timor-Leste beginning August 5, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier announced.
She will visit the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on August 10 at the invitation of its President Jose Ramos-Horta.
“We have announced the opening of our mission in Timor-Leste, Prime Minister Modi had announced this in September last year. We are well on the way to setting up our embassy and we will be setting it up very soon,” Mazumdar said.
Timor-Leste, meanwhile, has also announced its intention to open its embassy in New Delhi which “we have welcomed warmly,” the MEA secretary said.
“So, this will be the ‘Delhi-Dili’ connect which will only get stronger after the two embassies are opened,” he said.
In response to a query, Mazumdar said, “We have already identified a team which will be in Dili shortly to open the embassy. We are in the process of appointing an ambassador as well.” “We are waiting for their (Timor-Leste) team to arrive. And it should be done in the next couple of months, at least from our side,” he said.
The MEA secretary said India has a “strong, deep and historical connect” with Fiji, New Zealand and Timor-Leste.
Warm and friendly India-New Zealand ties have seen an uptick in recent years and the president’s visit is expected to give further impetus to the growing relationship in a large number of areas, the MEA secretary (east) said.
President Murmu will visit Fiji from August 5-7 at the invitation of its president Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere.
Fiji is a “strong pillar of our relationship” with the Pacific Islands and 75 years of “our diplomatic relations” is also being marked, Mazumdar said.
President Murmu will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji’s President Katonivere and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. She is scheduled to address the Fijian Parliament and interact with its members, many of whom are of Indian origin, he said.
The MEA official said India has strong people-to-people ties with Fiji.
The first Indians to have arrived there were indentured labourers or “girmitiyas” around 1857, Mazumdar said, adding that today more than a third of its population is of “Indian ancestry” and they have preserved their languages and customs.
The important aspect of the visit therefore will be the community interaction that the president will have in Suva with the Indian diaspora, he said.
“The visit confirms and reaffirms the strong commitment of India and Fiji to further strengthen our bilateral relations for the progress and prosperity of the peoples of our two countries.
“India has been a strong development partner for Fiji, having undertaken numerous development projects and offered lines of credit. We are also setting up a 100-bed tertiary hospital in Suva and that is something that was announced by our prime minister a few years ago. We hope to implement that very soon,” the MEA secretary said.
President Murmu will then pay a State Visit to New Zealand on August 8 and 9 at the invitation of New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kiro.
This will be the first presidential visit to New Zealand from India after eight years.
Besides a bilateral meeting with the governor-general, Murmu will have a meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of New Zealand who visited India in March.
New Zealand Governor-General Kiro will host a banquet in honour of President Murmu’s visit.
“New Zealand has put India as a special focused country in bilateral relations and recognises India as a key partner in defence and security and in terms of overall bilateral trade and investment, people to people contact. Therefore, this visit will be highly significant,” the MEA secretary said.
Education plays a big part in India-New Zealand bilateral relations and “we are a country with the second largest number of students in New Zealand, about 8,000 Indian students there,” Mazumdar said.
The President will address an international education conference in Wellington, where India will be the guest of honour.
This underscores the significance of the educational relationship where New Zealand is looking to work with India and “collaborate” with India’s educational institutions, Mazumdar said.
The Indian diaspora and friends of the India community reception will be held in Auckland the next day.
The Indian community is “well integrated into the New Zealand society and is a living bridge between the two countries”, the MEA secretary added.
Murmu will then visit the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on August 10 where she will have a bilateral meeting with President Horta and interact with members of the Indian community.
“There are several areas of bilateral cooperation which we would like to follow up such as IT, digital infrastructure, agriculture and capacity building,” Mazumdar said.
The visit comes seven months after President Horta’s visit to India when he attended the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ event and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on its sidelines, he said.
Timor-Leste is a young and vibrant democracy, and India has many years of “warm and cordial relations” with it, Mazumdar, adding that ever since PM Modi enunciated the Act East Policy, the region South East Asia and the Pacific has been a “special focus for us” and all these three countries “fall within our Act East policy”.
India has a very “old and strong partnership” with New Zealand too, he added.
The Act East Policy was announced by PM Modi at the ninth East Asia Summit in 2014. PTI KND NSD NSD
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.