Antananarivo: Lauding the role of Indian community in the development of this island nation, Madagascar Prime Minister Christian Ntsay said today that the Indian community in Madagascar “is very important for India and for Madagascar”.
Ntsay, who inaugurated a special exhibition on Indian diaspora organised by the Embassy of India here, stressed on the importance of preserving the memories, and recommended the exhibition as an “innovative initiative of the Indian Embassy because it is very important for the Malagasy people to understand that all the things that we are seeing now did not start from zero and that this journey is very important to understand because it is part of our common history”.
The Prime Minister recalled that this week both India and Madagascar together did a lot of activities in the North and the South of Madagascar. “We received this special training from Indian military experts in the north of Madagascar, then I was there in the south of Madagascar, to receive a donation of 1000 tons of rice and medicines from India earlier this week, and today and today we have this exhibition in the center of Madagascar. Obviously, I am here because this is part of our common history, he said.”
Also read: Photo Feature: The Indian community of Madagascar
It may be mentioned that people from the Indian state of Gujarat had sailed across the Indian Ocean in dhows to Madagascar and today there were about 17 500 persons of Indian origin in every part of Madagascar, who play a crucial role in its society and economy.
Speaking on the occasion Ambassador Abhay Kumar said that Indian community in Madagascar acts a vital bridge between the two countries. He added that this exhibition told their fascinating and adventurous story of the migration to Madagascar. “I believe this exhibition will act as a seed in creating an Indian Memorial in Madagascar and will grow in the coming future as more and more families will share the stories of their struggle and success in Madagascar. The younger generation of the community will be able to benefit from this exhibition seeing the struggles their ancestors have undergone through and take inspiration from their stories. It will also help us all to understand the Indian community in Madagascar better,” he averred.
Madagascar’s Foreign Minister Tehindra Zanarivelo Oliva described the Indian diaspora in Madagascar as an integral part of the contemporary history of Madagascar. “And it continues to write the history of the country through its economic and social contributions whatever the situation Madagascar has to go through,” he added.
The exhibition was attended by the members of Indian diaspora , Ambassadors and the high officials of the Malagasy government.
– global bihari bureau
