Indian High Commissioner presents letters of Credence

MAHENDER SINGH KANYAL, High Commissioner of the Republic of India to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), presented his letters of Credence to Sir Frederick Ballantyne, Governor General of SVG, at Government House on Monday January 21.

SVG and the Republic of India have a long history of diplomatic and economic cultural relations since mid 1980’s.

In 2013, the Government of India donated US$100,000 for Humanitarian Assistance in the wake of damage caused by floods. Under the programme, ‘Modernization of Arrowroot Industry for Climate Change Resilient and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Indigenous Communities’, SVG secured grant assistance to the tune of US$1.9 million from the Indian-UN Development Partnership Fund.

India’s partnership has also been extended through short-term training courses for persons under the

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) for various programmes.

India and SVG are both members of the Commonwealth and the L.69 Group of countries, respectively. L.69 is a political grouping with the UN System seeking to promote reform of the UN Security Council.

The accreditation of High Commissioner Kanyal serves to reaffirm SVG-India bilateral relations which will continue to strengthen through cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as promoting people to people exchanges, information technology, agribusiness, health, disaster management, animal husbandry and dairying and, cultural cooperation among others.

High Commissioner Kanyal is resident in Paramaribo, Suriname.