– extends 80th Independence Day greeting to Republic of India
As the Republic of India celebrates its 80th Independence Day on Saturday, President Dr Irfaan Ali has lauded the strong and enduring partnership that Guyana shares with the country. In a statement posted to his Facebook page, the Guyanese Head of State extended greetings, on behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, to India on its Independence Anniversary, sending best wishes for the country’s continued peace, prosperity, and progress. President Ali pointed out that India’s remarkable journey since gaining independence has been defined by the resilience, determination, and ingenuity of its people, transforming the nation into a global leader across numerous fields. He went on to highlight the long-standing relationship that Guyana and India have shared over the past 60 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations. This partnership, according to the Guyanese Leader, continues to grow stronger with time. “Guyana and India share an enduring friendship anchored in deep historical and cultural ties, strong people-to-people connections and an expanding partnership built on mutual respect and shared aspirations,” President Ali stated.
“As India marks this important national occasion, I join the people of Guyana in celebrating its achievements and extend our very best wishes to the people of India for continued peace, prosperity and progress,” he added.
President Dr Irfaan Ali with Indian President Smt. Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi
Meanwhile, in Guyana, India’s 80th Independence Day was celebrated by the Indian High Commission and the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre with enthusiasm and festive fervor. Members of the Indian community, Indian diaspora, Indian students, and the business community participated in the celebration hosted on Saturday morning at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Georgetown. Acting High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Manoj Kumar, hoisted the Indian Tricolor and read out excerpts from Indian President Smt. Droupadi Murmu’s address to the Nation that was delivered on the eve of Independence Day.
Saturday’s celebration featured vibrant cultural performances, including patriotic songs and dances by the diaspora, Indian students and children and teachers of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Georgetown. Additionally, certificates were presented to the ‘Bharat Ko Janiye’ participants during the event. A special exhibition on ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ and ‘Vande Matram’ also enthralled the audience during Saturday’s celebration. Guyana and India formally established diplomatic ties in May 1966. Over the decades, the two countries have enjoyed strong relations, with both committing to further deepening these bilateral ties. Back in May, when Guyana celebrated its own 60th Independence anniversary, India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, noted that shared democratic values and the deep people-to-people bonds have united the two nations. He also recognised that Guyana-India cooperation spans a wide range of sectors, including health care, energy, defense, agriculture, education, infrastructure, space technology, fintech and capacity building. In fact, collaboration in the health care sector has been identified as a key pillar of this bilateral partnership, with a major milestone achieved just over three months ago when the world’s longest-distance robotic surgery was conducted between Guyana and India in May. The coronary artery bypass graft surgery was performed by internationally renowned cardiac surgeon Dr Sudhir Srivastava, who operated the robotic surgical system remotely from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in Guyana on a patient in India. The telesurgery covered an estimated distance of approximately 20,000 kilometers (km) via fiber optic cables, making it the longest-distance telesurgery ever conducted in the world to date. “[This was] not only a robotic surgery…[but] the latest advances in technology in robotic surgeries. The absolutely latest technology, not the one from yesterday, the most current technology, some of which, most of which, is not even existing in the most developed medical environment, we have adopted in our robotics. We have leapfrogged to 2050 and beyond,” President Ali said about the achievement. In addition to that long-distance surgery, two other procedures were also successfully done on patients at the GPHC using the robotic surgical system – Mantra Freedom 60, which Guyana has acquired from the India-based company SS Innovations International Inc, along with the full training module that would not only be used to train local medical professionals but also those in the wider Caribbean region as well.
Meanwhile, India has also been playing a role in Guyana’s capacity-building efforts as well as its infrastructure development, building out critical road networks and buildings across the country.
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