Times of Oman
Muscat, Aug 16: The 62nd Independence Day of India was celebrated in the Sultanate with a variety of programmes yesterday.
Anil Wadhwa, Indian ambassador to the Sultanate, unfurled the Indian national flag and read out the President’s address at a ceremony held at Indian School Darsait and on Indian Embassy premises in the morning.
The ceremony at the embassy was attended by more than 500 members of the Indian community from all walks of life and about 400 members of the Indian community were present at Indian School Darsait.
Children from all five Indian schools in the capital region participated in the function at Indian School Darsait with rendition of patriotic songs and a colourful cultural programme.
In his remarks after reading out the President’s address, Wadhwa extended his heartiest congratulations to all Indians and persons of Indian origin living in Oman.
He highlighted the economic developments in India and India’s role in world affairs.
While touching upon various aspects of relations between India and Oman, the ambassador emphasised the extraordinary progress made by the two countries in the economic and trade fields over the past year which has seen trade increase from $946 million in 2006 to $1.8 billion in 2007.
This trend, he pointed out, was continuing in 2008, and trade was expected to reach the figure of $2 billion this year.
He pointed to the presence of more than 100 Indian companies in Oman and 30 Omani investments in India, and the growing number of Omani visitors to India, which could reach 35,000 this year from the figure of 23,000 last year.
Wadhwa reiterated that the Indian community continues to enjoy the benign protection of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and his government.
He added that during his stay in the Sultanate over the last year, he had received tremendous support and affection from all Indian expatriates.
He also said that he was proud of the community for acting as the true ambassadors of India in Oman and urged all Indians in Oman to continue to be law-abiding and to continue to contribute to the development of both India and Oman in the same manner as before, so that they could build on the high reputation enjoyed by them. On this happy occasion, the ambassador also conveyed sincere thanks to His Majesty the Sultan and wished the government and the friendly people of Oman success in their future endeavours for the development of the Sultanate and for their personal well-being.
At the ceremony in the Embassy, the ambassador presented bouquets to Rajmohan Unnithan, member of AICC, and Neelam Dhar, a well-known Indian artist.
During the cultural programme, the ambassador also facilitated Manhar Udhas, a renowned Indian playback singer, with a bouquet. All these personalities who are visiting Oman were present at the embassy.
A brief tree-planting ceremony with the volunteers of “Art of Living” also took place to coincide with the event, as part of a tree planting programme in which UNEP is a partner in Oman.
During the programme, the ambassador distributed prizes to the following students who stood first, second and third in the respective groups in a drawing competition held by the embassy in collaboration with the Indian schools earlier during the year on the theme of India:
Junior Group:
1st Prize: Ammal Nasser, Grade IV, Indian School Rustaq
2nd Prize: Vignesh Kumar, Grade IV, Indian School Wadi Kabir
3rd Prize: Anupama Suresh Kumar, Grade III, Indian School Al Ghubrah
Middle Group:
1st Prize: Shazia M. Grade VI, Indian School Muscat
2nd Prize: Priya Muralidhar, Grade VII, Indian School Wadi Kabir
3rd Prize: Rashmi Kunder, Grade VII, Indian School Muscat
Senior Group:
1st Prize: Abhijith Sasikumar, Grade IX, Indian School Wadi Kabir
2nd Prize: Karun Suresh, Grade IX, Indian School Muscat
3rd Prize: Neeraj Ravindran, Grade X, Indian School, Al Seeb.