Speech by Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the Banquet Hosted in Honour of His Excellency, Mr. Filipe Nyusi, the President of Republic of Mozambique

Your Excellency, Mr. Filipe Nyusi,

President of the Republic of Mozambique,

It is my privilege to receive you on your first State Visit to India. On behalf of our Government and people, I extend a warm welcome to you, Madam Isaura Nyusi and the distinguished members of your delegation.

It is a matter of satisfaction, indeed, that your State Visit is taking place at a time when India and Mozambique are commemorating 40 years of the establishment of our diplomatic relations. I take this opportunity to also congratulate you and the people of Mozambique as you celebrate the 40thanniversary of your independence.

Mr. President, although our people-to-people ties go down the centuries, our friendship in modern times dates back to the days of your freedom movement. Having ourselves thrown off the yoke of foreign rule to gain our country’s independence in 1947, it was only natural for India to extend support to the friendly people of Mozambique in their struggle. The people of India were, indeed, pleased to witness the independence of Mozambique in 1975.

India is glad to see that since then, Mozambique has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty, enhancing literacy, providing primary healthcare to its people and significantly increasing its agricultural production. By ensuring internal peace and stability in the last two decades and taking up wide-ranging reforms, Mozambique has transformed itself into one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. In this regard, Excellency, your emphasis on creating a "society of inclusion" is commendable.

I assure you, Excellency, that India remains committed to supporting the development of Mozambique - through our bilateral trade and investment, technical assistance and capacity building programmes, and the continued financing of your development projects. There is ample scope for building upon the many complementarities between our economies and for expanding our collaboration in several fields including agriculture, food processing, healthcare and in the exploitation of your significant natural resources.

India values its cooperation with Mozambique in international fora, including the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Indian Ocean Rim Association. Our two countries share a common commitment to the reforms of institutions of global governance – so that they better reflect the aspirations of developing countries. We greatly appreciate your support to our candidature for permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council. In this 70th year of the United Nations, we look forward to working together with Mozambique and our partners in the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to pursue these long awaited reforms.

Excellency, I take this opportunity to reiterate that India remains deeply committed to its partnership with Africa. This is demonstrated by the success of the India Africa Forum Summits which began in 2008. India will be hosting the 3rd Summit of the Forum in October this year. We look forward to Mozambique's active participation in the summit. I have no doubt that the Summit will provide new and creative ideas for enhancing the socio-economic development of our peoples.

Excellency, our success is already a good example of mutually beneficial South-South Cooperation. I am confident that the new areas of focus identified during your visit will further strengthen our enduring partnership.

With these words, Excellency, I wish you and Madam Isaura Nyusi an enjoyable and fruitful visit to India.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I request you to join me in raising a toast:-

- to the health, happiness and well-being of His Excellency President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi and Madam Isaura Nyusi;

- to the well-being and prosperity of the people of Mozambique; and

- to lasting friendship between India and Mozambique.

Thank you!