On Saturday, President Droupadi Murmu departed for a six-day trip to Serbia and Suriname. Since taking office in July 2022, this is both her first state visit and her first trip to Suriname.
President Murmu would visit Suriname and Serbia from June 4 to 9 the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) said earlier on Friday
President Murmu will be in Suriname on a state visit from June 4–6, at the invitation of Suriname President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, according to a briefing on the Suriname portion of her trip.
“This will be her maiden visit to Suriname. Maiden state visit after she assumed the office of President. The visit assumes historical significance as the President will be the chief guest at the 150th-anniversary celebrations of the arrival of Indians in Suriname, which would be celebrated on June 5,” the MEA Secretary (East) said.
Along with a formal delegation, the President is accompanied by Shrimati Rama Devi, a Member of Parliament, and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution. The President and President Santokhi of Suriname will speak in public.
President, according to Saurabh Kumar during the briefing “will participate in a number of activities to commemorate the arrival of Indians in Suriname and visit the sites associated with their history in that country. The President will also interact with the Indian community”.
“The last presidential visit from India to Suriname was in 2018. India, Suriname relations are warm and friendly and acquire special significance on account of the Indian diaspora, which is over 27 per cent of the Suriname population,” the MEA Secretary (East) said.
He said India, Suriname’s “bilateral relations span sectors such as trade and commerce, development, partnership, capacity building, agriculture and people to people ties. Suriname has been supportive of India in the international fora”.
“The Indian diaspora in Suriname acts as a living bridge between the two countries. Despite the passage of time, the diaspora has preserved the customs and traditions it carried from India while adding local flavours,” he added.
“The Republic of Suriname’s invitation to the President to be the chief guest shows the goodwill that prevails there for India as well as India’s growing influence and stature on the global stage,” he said.
“The visit of the President also emphasizes the importance we attach to our relations with Suriname and to the Indian diaspora around the world. The visit will add a fresh momentum too and further strengthen India-Suriname bilateral ties,” he added.
Serbia will be the destination of Murmu’s subsequent leg of her tour, which begins on June 7. Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, extended an invitation to her.
Significance of the visit
Murmu’s visit to Serbia comes at a time when tensions in Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, have been escalating over the past week. There have reportedly been a number of altercations with protesters protesting the installation of mayors who identify as Albanian in a contentious election.
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