Embassy of India

in Switzerland and The Principality of Liechtenstein

Thank you every body. Let me thank all of you for coming in for the flag hoisting ceremony here at India House.

On behalf of the Embassy of India, Government of India and the 1.3 billion of our brothers and sisters in India, let me once again wish you a very happy independence day.

Today, I am also honoured to have Hon’ble Member of Parliament Shri ShyamaCharan Gupta and his family among us today.  He is representing the historic city of Allahabad in the Lok Sabha. I see here many seniors who has been attending the Flag Hoisting ceremony for several decades without break. I also see the young new born children in our midst who are beginning to learn the values and tastes of India. I heard about a new child born for one of our staff members today morning. I am happy to see more members joining the Indian diaspora here who will grow up in Indian values and traditions.

As our President said in his remarks last night, Independence Day celebrations is a solemn occasion to remember the sacrifices that millions of Indians all across the country madefor several generations to win us freedom. It is also an occasion to rededicate ourselves to the progress of our country and also to the ideals of our freedom struggle and to the values and objectives of our constitution.

Our Prime Minister in his address today morning from the ramparts of the Red Fort spoke about the vision for our nation. He said that by 2022, when India completes 75 years of independence, or before that, a son or daughter of India will go to space with a tricolour in their hands.

We all agree that India has transformed in the last seventy years, both at internally and externally. No one can deny that there has been a steady transformation in India’s profile and role at the global level.  India’s robust participation at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2018 where our Prime Minister gave the inaugural key-note address, at a summit which was attended by over eighty Heads of State/Heads of Government and over 3000 CEOs and Business leaders is reflective of India’s transformed profile in 21st century.

At the domestic level, India’s transformation has been decisive. A poverty stricken population with a literacy rate of a mere 12% in 1947 today has a literacy rate of over 74%; its average life expectancy in 1947 was 35 years, which now reached over 70 years; from a poor medical infrastructure nation it has grown as one of the major medical tourism destination for the world; from a country which depended on foreign aid for sustenance, India has emerged as world’s 2nd largest producer of rice and wheat, world’s largest producer of Milk and is in top few countries for fruits and vegetable. The achievements we made in science and technology, in IT and space sector are important to mention. I am happy to note that today we are organizing a ‘Digital India Summit - from IT to AI’ in Bern, which will showcase India’s achievements in IT and AI sectors. I invite you to attend the event today at 1 PM.

With Switzerland,2018 is a special year for India. We celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship that we signed in 1948. We are celebrating this anniversary in a befitting manner. We had several major visits and exchanges this year. As I said earlier, Prime Minister was in Switzerland in January 2018 for the Davos World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Swiss President was in India in August 2017, when we issued a comprehensive Joint Statement. Swiss Foreign Minister was in India last week. We have several more exchanges, meetings and visits planned this year.

I am happy to report that our Embassy has planned several events in coming months to celebrate in India in Switzerland and in Lichtenstein. This include a Festival of India covering 12 cities and several Trade and Investment Promotion and Business events spread all over Switzerland and Lichtenstein.The Indian Cultural Network (ICN) and Indian Professionals Network (IPN), the two main vehicles of activities that the Embassy we set up earlier this year, is actively engaged in promoting Indian interest in Switzerland.

We are celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi this year. Mahatma Gandhi had visited Switzerland in 1931. We are planning a series of events to commemorate his 150thbirth anniversary.These all events are not just in Bern. We are travelling to all major cities and cantons of Switzerland, like the Yoga and Ayurveda festival we organized in June this year in twelve cities of Switzerland and Lichtenstein.

I invite all of you to participate in these events. I also invite you to share your views and ideas with us. Together let us celebrate India in Switzerland. Please do visit our website and also keep in touch through Facebook and Twitter. 

Before I conclude I have a request, before you leave today, please register for our Bharat KoJaniye Quiz programme.
Thank you very much.