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More than a thousand Indian expatriates gathered yesterday to celebrate the 64th Republic Day of India at a grand event held at the Diplomatic Club’s Royal Tent. The programme was organised by the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) under the aegis of the Indian embassy in Qatar.
The event featured an array of cultural activities, including fusion dances, classical and semi-classical, patriotic as well as traditional dances, which showcased the rich diversity and common thread that binds together the people of India.
Republic Day is observed in India on January 26 to commemorate the date on which the constitution of India came into force in 1950, replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of the South Asian country.
Speaking on the occasion yesterday, Indian ambassador Sanjiv Arora lauded the efforts of the organisers. He also urged all Indians to continue to be “the ambassador” of their country while upholding the strong relationship India shares with Qatar.
“Each member of the Indian community here is an ambassador to Qatar and organising occasions like this is a useful way of promoting further co-operation between the two nations. I will urge to see this occasion as a celebration of the strong historical bond between Qatar and India and renew our sincere thanks and appreciation to the government and people of Qatar for their friendship, hospitality and co-operation,” he said.
Ambassador Arora said the bilateral co-operation between India and Qatar has flourished in multiple areas in modern times, within a framework provided by centuries-old warmth and goodwill among the people, as well as regular and substantive engagement between the two governments, including at the highest levels.
“The state visit of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to India in April last year was yet another milestone in India-Qatar relations and imparted further impetus to our bilateral co-operation, with the signing of six new MoUs and agreements that are being actively followed up by both sides,” he recalled.
He also mentioned that people-to-people contacts and initiatives by the private sector were energising dialogue and collaborations between both countries in various spheres, including energy, business, education and research, arts and culture, healthcare, tourism and media.
The ambassador later launched the Republic Day souvenir, which details the activities of the ICC throughout the year as well as other community information, at a public function compered by ICC secretary-general Seenu Pillai.
Pillai said the ICC will organise a family-oriented Indian Community Sports Day as part of the Qatar National Sport Day at Al Arabi Sports Club on February 12 .
ICC president Tarun Basu welcomed the gathering and received the guests of honour, including the Ministry of Interior’s Security Department Community Policing officer, Lt Shaheen Rashid al-Ateeq, and the Police Guard Department’s permit section head, Capt Nasser Darwish.
Other special guests were Doha Bank’s Global Governance head David Dougan and ICC Advisory Board chairman K M Varghese.
Besides performances by students of seven Indian schools in Qatar, other groups featured were ICC students, Qatar Tamizar Sangham, Traq, Bangiya Parishad, Kodaka and Utkalika.
A folk dance by Gujarati Samaj enthralled the audience, who also enjoyed drama and comedy skits by Bharati and Doha Modern Indian School, respectively. ICC Finance head Rajesh Singh proposed the vote of thanks.