President Mori receives India’s fourth Ambassador to FSM, H.E. Amit Dasgupta

President Mori, left, receiving credentials from Ambassador Dasgupta of India

FSMIS (July 25, 2013): In the morning of the 24^th 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.

For more information, email fsmpio@mail.fm or call FSM Public Information Office at 320-2548.