The Indian ambassador P Kumaran, joined by Maj Gen Tariq Khalid al-Obaidly, former head of the International Military Co-operation Authority in the Qatar Armed Forces and Khamis al-Ajmi, CEO Dahra Technologies, felicitated Qatar resident and Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (2019) Awardee, Cdr Purnendu Tiwari at an event on Wednesday.
Indian embassy counsellor Rajesh Kamble and defence attache Capt Kapil Kaushik were present on the occasion at the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC).
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind had conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award to Cdr Tiwari (Indian Navy, retired) on January 23. He is the first Indian Armed Forces personnel to be awarded this highest honour meant for NRIs / PIOs.
Cdr Tiwary served in Indian Navy from 1982 to 2002, having various tenures, including command of Ships Kozhikode and Magar. He is the managing director in Dahra Group and instrumental in setting up a world class training infrastructure for the Qatar Amiri Naval Force and conducting training of officers.
Also felicitated on the occasion were Seenu Pillai, K M Varghese, Kala Gopala Krishnan, Shanun D’souza and Anoop Babu for their contribution and co-ordination for the Pravasi Bharat Delegation from Qatar.
Others felicitated were supporters of the event Harish Kanjani, Palash Das and the group leaders of the Qatar delegation Rajneesh Shastri, Aji Kuriakose, Rajesh Singh, Nisha Agrawal, Santosh Pillai, Deven Deorukhkar and SriRaja Vijayan.
Ambassador Kumaran spoke about the active role played by Cdr Tiwari towards capacity building for the Qatar Amiri Naval Forces, thereby promoting India-Qatar co-operation.
Maj Gen al-Obaidly complimented the award recipient and also the vast contribution from India for the host country of Qatar.
The felicitation was done during an event associated with the conclusion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019. ICC president Manikantan A P, Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) president P N Baburajan, Indian Business and Professionals Council (IBPC) president Azim Abbas, and past presidents K M Varghese (IBPC), and Devis Edukulathur (ICBF) were present.
ICBF managing committee member Santosh Pillai welcomed and Maharashtra Mandal past president Deven Deorukhkar proposed a vote of thanks.
Dignitaries and Indian forum officials at the event.
