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| President Mori, left, receiving credentials from Ambassador Dasgupta of India |
FSMIS (July 25, 2013): In the
morning of the 24th of July, President Manny Mori received H.E. Amit
Dasgupta as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to the
FSM.
As part of credential
presentation, Ambassador Dasgupta presented the letter of recall for his
predecessor and his letter of credence for acceptance by President Mori on this
day, making him the fourth Indian Ambassador to the FSM since the establishment
of FSM-India diplomatic relations in November, 1996.
President
Mori welcomed Ambassador Dascupta to the FSM and noted his being a graduate of
Xavier College in Calcutta. As a graduate of Xavier High School in Chuuk,
President Mori noticed the similarity right away.
The
President reiterated his appreciation to the Government of India for its
financial support to the FSM, in particular, the assistance that enabled the
procurement of machineries at the Coconut Development Authority (CDA). He also
complimented the Ambassador on his newly published books, stating his interest
to obtain a copy of his latest non-fiction – “Why we do what we do”.
Ambassador
Dasgupta conveyed greetings from the President of India and expressed his
gratitude to President Mori for receiving him and for his personal interest in
his latest writings. He also conveyed best regards from his predecessor,
Ambassador Kumar, whose tenure began in June 2010 and ended earlier this day.
President
Mori and Ambassador Dascupta exchanged views and comments on a number of issues
of mutual interest to FSM and India including discussions on coconut bi-product
development and marketing, medicine, agriculture and climate change.
On the
finance side, President Mori spoke about the need for mentoring in development of
small business financing and implementation and banking-related issues for
entrepreneurs.
The
President underscored the four priority development sectors of energy, tourism,
agriculture and fisheries and highlighted current movement for bolstering planning
and development activities leading to 2023, the termination year for economic
assistance under the Compact of Free Association with the United States.
By way of
information, Ambassador Dascupta spoke of India’s intension to finance a
foreign affairs training in Palau and a climate change forum in the FSM in the
near future, bringing together officials from FSM, Palau and the Marshall
Islands to sharpen expertise and strengthen regional collaboration.
The
President and Ambassador assured each other to meet again in the Marshall
Islands next month at the meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Witnessing
the short ceremony were Secretary Lorin S. Robert, Department of Foreign
Affairs; Secretary Marion Henry, Department of Resources and Development, Chief
of Staff Leo Falcam Jr.; representatives of the FSM Coconut Development
Authority and the FSM Petroleum Corporation; and Foreign Affairs Deputy
Secretary Samson Pretrick along with
other staff from the Department.
The
Manila-based Ambassador also covers Indian relations with the Republic of Palau
and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
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