SPEECH
BY SHRI K.R.NARAYANAN, PRESIDENT OF INDIA,
AT THE BANQUET HOSTED BY MR. ALBERTO FUJIMORI, PRESIDENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF PERU
THURSDAY, APRIL 30,
1998
Your Excellency
President Alberto Fujimori
Miss Keiko Fujimori
Excellencies
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are happy to be present
here today in the midst of our Peruvian friends. I thank you for your warm
words of welcome. I wish to express on behalf of my wife, my family members,
the members of my delegation, and myself, our sincere thanks to Your Excellency,
to the First Lady Miss Keiko Fujimori and to the Government and people of
Peru for the warmth, friendship and hospitality with which we have been
received in your country. There is indeed, a strong bond of friendship and
affinity between the Indian and Peruvian peoples. On this first day of my
visit to Peru, I have been struck by the great similarities that unite us.
Our societies share similar complexities, our peoples share common hopes
and aspirations.
Your Excellency's historic
visit to India last year helped a great deal to bridge by friendship and
co-operation the oceanic distance between our two countries and opened a
new chapter in our relations. During that visit, we had the opportunity
to meet and discuss various matters of mutual interest. To-day, Indo-Peruvian
relations are being expanded and deepened in many spheres. I am indeed happy
to be here to-day, as the first President of the Republic of India to visit
Peru. I am confident that our dialogue and interaction during this visit
will further consolidate Indo-Peruvian relations as our two countries enter
the 21st Century.
India and Peru are countries
which are proud of their ancient civilizations and rich cultures. Our peoples
are a fusion of many ethnic groups and races, reflecting the rich tapestry
of our history over the centuries. Your poet Jose Santos Chocano wrote:
"My blood is Spanish and Incan in its throb", and "I fuse both races with
a noise like thunder". This fascinating mixture of racial elements has become
even more diverse and lively in Peruvian society to-day as it has in multi-racial,
multi-religious and multi-lingual India. Our myths and folklore share many
aspects in common. The Andean people and the people of India have long revered
the generative forces of our Mother Earth.
Our two civilizations
developed independently of each other. They have been alike, however, in
the manner in which each one's influence and legendary fame spread far beyond
their territorial borders. The life-story of Simon Bolivar, the great liberator
of Peru and other South American countries has inspired many generations
of Indians. The poems of the great Peruvian poet, Cesar Vallejo, whose work
has been translated into Hindi, are admired in my country. And, I am also
aware that the great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, who was invited to
Peru for the centenary celebrations of the Battle of Ayacucho in 1924, has
a dedicated following in Peru.
Your Excellency, both
India and Peru are developing countries, who have opened their economies
to the world in a process of dynamic modernization. At the same time, we
have held on to our cultural moorings. We have seen the dramatic economic
progress that has taken place in Peru under your able and dynamic leadership.
We have also seen the resolute and determined manner in which you have tackled
the terrible menace of terrorism. The Government and the people of India
who have also experienced and fought this scourge of our times, share your
view that no concessions can be made to the demands of terrorists.
Peru has recently felt
the adverse effects of the weather phenomenon called "El Nino". The Government
and people of India express their sympathy and solidarity for those Peruvians
who have been affected by El Nino.
India is currently celebrating
the fiftieth anniversary of her independence. Our greatest achievement since
independence has been the establishment of a democratic system of government
and politics. Indian democracy has great relevance to the pluralistic world
order that is now emerging. We have reached out to the world through our
policy of non-alignment and peaceful co-existence and worked sincerely for
good neighbourly and cooperative relations in our region. Ours is an enterprise
of peace and development, friendship and co-operation.
Since the establishment
of our diplomatic relations thirty five years ago, our two countries have
enjoyed closer contact and co-operation. Peru is to-day an esteemed member
of NAM and also of G-15. We felicitate Peru on its forthcoming entry into
APEC . In these multiple roles in the international community I am confident
that Peru, together with India, can play an important part in the United
Nations in creating a new and more equitable world order. Your poet Cesar
Vallejo has put it pithily "the Earth is a worn dice _ and round now, from
so much random rolling". Certainly the world is now more round and a multi-polar
one in which each nation has a significant role to play.
In many ways, the relationship
between India and Peru can be a model for cooperation between Asia and Latin
America. We have seen how our trade and commercial exchanges have grown
in the last few years. We must now set higher targets for such cooperation
and exchanges. Excellency, during your visit to India, and my current visit,
we have been able to identify several new areas of cooperation. As we stand
on the threshold of a new millenium, I am confident that this co-operation
will grow and yield substantial results for our countries and for the world.
Excellencies, Ladies
and Gentlemen, may I request you to join me in a toast:
- the health of their
Excellencies, President Alberto Fujimori and Miss Keiko Fujimori;
- to the progress and
prosperity of the people of Peru and;
- to the enduring
friendship between India and Peru.
Thank you
|
