Envoys of Six Nations Present Credentials to President of India

Six envoys presented their credentials to the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The envoys who presented their credentials were: - His Excellency Mr. Mohamad Sharari El Bakheit El-Fayez, the Ambassador of Jordan, Her Excellency Ms. Jan Handerson, the High Commissioner of New Zealand, Her Excellency Ms. Theresa Cutajar, The High Commissioner of Malta, His Excellency Mr. Chandradath Singh, the High Commissioner of Trinidad & Tobago, His Excellency Mr. Pierre Vaesen, the Ambassador of Belgium and Her Excellency Ms. Karen Tan, the High Commissioner of Singapore.

Welcoming the envoys the President observed that this group of Ambassadors presenting credentials was "gender balanced", the President mentioned that empowerment of women was an important global objective and also an important national objective in India. The President conveyed condolences for the lives lost in the recent devastating earthquake in New Zealand. She stated that natural disasters remind the international community of the need to continuously focus on developing robust early warning systems and on disaster preparedness. The President referred to issues like financial stability, food security and terrorism which also require collective global action. She added that for dealing effectively with global challenges, the agenda for the reform of international bodies and multilateral financial institutions should proceed ahead with a sense of urgency. She stated that India has full credentials to be a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council. The President also referred to the constructive contribution of the Indian Diaspora to countries in which they live.

The credential presentation ceremony was attended by the senior members of the missions, senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

This release issued at 1705 hrs.