SPEECH
BY SHRI K R NARAYANAN, PRESIDENT OF INDIA, WHILE ACCEPTING THE CREDENTIALS
FROM MR. MANUEL MARCELO MONTEIRO CURTO, AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE OF PORTUGAL
TO INDIA
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER,
27, 1997
Excellency,
I have great pleasure
in welcoming you to India and in accepting the Letter of Credence, accrediting
you as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic
of Portugal to India. Please accept my congratulations on your appointment
to this high office.
The historical links
between India and Portugal have left identifiable cultural strands in
both countries where each other's influence is distinctly visible. The
past two decades have seen the two sides coming closer and there has been
a qualitative improvement in our bilateral relationship.
However, there exists
considerable potential for increased cooperation in political, economic,
cultural and scientific fields, which we must tap to our mutual advantage.
We must nurture our cultural links and expand the extent of our economic
ties. We also look forward to an increased interaction between our two
countries in the context of Indo-European Union cooperation as also at
other multilateral fora.
High level visits
between our two countries in recent years have imparted a fresh momentum
to our bilateral cooperation. We were honoured to receive President Soares
as the Chief Guest at our Republic Day celebrations in January 1992. I
should like to thank His Excellency, the President of the Portuguese Republic
for his kind invitation to me to visit Portugal during Expo'98 in Lisbon.
India and Portugal
share the values of democracy and social justice. Your arrival in India
in the 50th year of our independence will provide you an opportunity to
gather impressions about the achievements of our country in the past five
decades.
Excellency, while
wishing you and your family a successful, happy and satisfying tenure
in India, I would like to assure you of the fullest cooperation of my
government in the discharge of your important duties which, I am confident,
would further strengthen and enhance bilateral cooperation and friendship
between India and Portugal, in the years ahead.
Thank you
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