SPEECH
BY SHRI K.R.NARAYANAN, PRESIDENT OF INDIA, WHILE ACCEPTING CREDENTIALS FROM MR. NOVAK
TODOROVIC, AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA TO INDIA
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1998
Excellency,
I have great pleasure
in accepting your Credentials as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of Bosnia and Herzegovina to India, and in welcoming you to my country.
Please accept my sincere congratulations on your appointment to this position
of high responsibility. Your appointment assumes special significance as
you are the first Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to India. On behalf
of the people and Government of India, I wish you every success.
India recognized Bosnia
and Herzegovina in May 1992, immediately after the declaration of its independence,
and established diplomatic relations with it soon thereafter. The decision
of your country to open a Resident Mission in New Delhi will impart a definite
momentum to the further development of our friendly bilateral ties. I am
confident that given the fund of goodwill that exists on both sides, our
ties will prosper to the benefit of our two countries and peoples.
The diversity which characterizes
our multi-faceted societies and our common aspirations for equality and
justice bind us together in mutual understanding and provide a unique dimension
to our bilateral ties. The successful and peaceful conduct of two elections
in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996 and 1998 has demonstrated your country's
commitment to democracy and secularism. I would like to assure you that
India will extend her full cooperation to Bosnia and Herzegovina in her
efforts towards building a modern, prosperous, multi-ethnic, multi-religious
and democratic nation-State that is equipped to meet the challenges of the
new millennium.
It is gratifying that
favourable conditions for the economic growth of your country now exist.
We have followed with interest the measures undertaken by Bosnia and Herzegovina
to invigorate its economy. India, too, has pursued a programme of economic
reforms that has put the Indian economy on a path of sustained growth. We
need to take advantage of the opportunities presented by emerging economic
opportunities in both countries so as to invest our relations with greater
depth, utilising the existing potential for bilateral trade and economic
cooperation.
Excellency, as international
affairs acquire new shape and definition in the post-Cold War period, it
is important that we ensure that the emerging world order is just, equitable,
democratic and representative, and is based on respect for the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of States. I sincerely hope that India and Bosnia
and Herzegovina will make concerted efforts in all international fora in
the pursuit of this goal.
Excellency, the Government
of India will always be forthcoming in extending to you its full cooperation
on all issues concerning our bilateral relations. I wish you a happy and
successful stay in India. I also take this opportunity to convey through
you, my best wishes to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, currently
chaired by His Excellency, Mr. Alija Izetbegovic, and for the prosperity
and well-being of the friendly people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Thank you
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