Indian Ambassador meets Madagascar Defence Min; discusses bilateral defence co-operation

 Indian Ambassador Abhay Kumar met Madagascar Defence Minister General Leon Jean Richard Rakotonirina on Tuesday to discuss several diplomatic issues. Several topics were discussed in the meeting, including pertinent issues like measures taken by both nations to enhance bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.

The Indian embassy in Madagascar shared a tweet on Monday on Twitter and wrote, "Indian Ambassador Abhay Kumar met Major General Leon Jean Richard Rakotonirina, Defence Minister of Madagascar today. They discussed issues of mutual interest.” 

India has been constantly working to enhance the bilateral ties between both nations, including defence ties. The relationship shared by both countries has been deepening since the visit of President Ramnath Kovind to Madagascar in 2018. On the other hand, Madagascar Defence Minister Rakotonirina visited India in 2020 to participate in Def Expo and in Feb 2021 to participate in the IOR defence ministers meet.

In the past, a number of MoUs in various sectors including health, education, media, culture have been proposed by both parties and are under consideration. In March this year, when Madagascar suffered a huge drought, India had deployed its warship Jalashwa to rush 1000 tonnes of aid to the drought-affected South Madagascar. This happened after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar overlooked the matter and had a telephonic conversation with Madagascar's Foreign Minister T. Djacoba A.S. Oliva.

Madagascar has a strong Indian diaspora from the state of Gujarat and the Indian embassy in the country, which keeps coming up with interesting events, to cater to the Indian population. Similarly, on the occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day, the Indian embassy has planned several events including flag hoisting.

Indian Embassy In Madagascar Organizes Illustrative Talk On 'Ancient Murals Of India'

Under the Modi government's initiative to celebrate the 75 years of Independence, the Embassy of India, Antananarivo (Madagascar) organised an online seminar on “Ancient Murals of India” on Wednesday, July 7. The seminar was conducted by renowned filmmaker and art historian Benoy K Behl. He is also known for his extraordinary photography skills. The seminar engaged the participants with Behl in an illustrative talk on the subject. Several localities from Madagascar and Comoros attended the seminar, the event was broadcasted live on the Facebook page of the Indian Embassy in Antananarivo, after the details of the event were released by the embassy in a press release.           

Image: ANI