Remarks by Ambassador Sibi George
at the Inauguration of Festival of India in Berne on September 8, 2018
Good Evening Everybody;Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Friends of India; Members of the Indian Diaspora in Switzerland; Ladies & Gentlemen,
Let me begin by welcoming you all to this evening. Today we are launching Festival of India in Switzerland. This is to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship that India and Switzerland signed in 1948. It was the first Friendship Treaty that India signed with any foreign country, since its independence in 1947. Since then India and Switzerland maintained excellent bilateral relations which today is a ‘Long Standing Dynamic Partnership’.
When we celebrate this 70th anniversary, in that last two years, we had a series of high level visits. Prime Minister Modi was in Switzerland in June 2016. Swiss President was in New Delhi on a State visit in August 2017. In January 2018, Prime Minister Modi was in Switzerland to deliver the opening key-note address at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. And in August this year, last month, we had the Foreign Minister of Switzerland H.E. Dr. Ignazio Cassis visiting New Delhi and the historic city of Varanasi.
India’s business engagement with Switzerland is also growing rapidly. Our bilateral trade today is nearly USD 20 billion. The engagement between Indian and Swiss companies are deepening. India’s Flagship Programmes like Make in India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Swachh Bharat (Clean India), Startup India, Skill India and other initiatives are resonating well with several companies here. Similar is the level of cooperation and engagement with other areas such as culture, movies, yoga, Ayurveda, tourism, cuisine and people to people exchanges. We continue to partner in Bollywood, not just in Interlaken, but other areas of Switzerland also.
I recall recent a conversation I had with a Management Student from one of the reputed universities in Switzerland. She asked me, Ambassador, to get a grip over India, its culture, its diversity, its values, its traditions, its cuisine, its music, its civilization, its costumes, how much time does one need to spent in India. My answer was simple, for one to get a grip of India one needs to spend a life time in India. If that is not possible, you could visit India for a few months, to get a taste of India. If that is also not possible join the India celebrations that we plan to organize in coming months and weeks. He is one such moment, when we try to showcase India’s rich and varied cultural heritage.
When we launch the Festival of India in Switzerland today, as a diplomat, I feel so proud to represent India, which is one of the oldest, largest and continuous civilization in the world. Its diverse culture, its various art forms. The various dancesthat originated in India such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Manipuri and Mohiniyattam etc and several music forms remain active today. I invite you to visit India and taste for yourself its traditions and culture.
In coming months we have more artists from India who will perform in Bern and other cities. I request you to save the date for next performance here on October 6.
Once again welcome to Festival of India. Stay till the end, we have a variety of programs lined up. Enjoy the evening.
Thank you.
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