Palabras en el Día Nacional

Honorable invitado principal,

Excelencias

Damas y caballeros

Queridos amigos,

Today we celebrate the 199 anniversary of the Independence of Uruguay.  During this time, we have achieved 76 years of diplomatic relations with India.

We are honored to have as Chief Guest Dr. L. Murugan, Honorable Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs. Thank you, sir, for the prestige of having you with us tonight.

This 2024 has been a remarkable year for the strengthening of relations with our host country. We have had the satisfaction to be the only South American country as partner of Vibrant Gujarat at the beginning of the year.

We have received the second visit of our Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nicolas Albertoni who attended the Raisina Dialogue and had meetings with honorable Meenakashi Lekhi to expand the knowledge of Uruguay.

Also, our contacts with the Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry give us hope for beginning new innovative stages to elaborate on the complementarities in our bilateral relationship.

Another remarkable achievement is the BWSC agreement with the Uruguay-based company BERKES for the acquisition of its Boiler Supply business. The Boiler Supply business is an international engineering business developing, designing, constructing and commissioning high efficiency advanced utility and biomass steam boilers to the energy industry. This is already having great impact in the combat of pollution in India.

We have moved towards incorporating our membership to the International Solar Alliance, presently considered in our Parliament, and also encouraged other partnerships with India in the field of renewable energy.

We have also made progress in the negotiation with the Indian Ministry of Finance to agree on a new version of our Bilateral Investment Treaty which will surely add to all the efforts in that direction.

I also celebrate that Secretary East Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar will honor us visiting Uruguay next month for our 6^th Political Consultations.

Uruguay, with India, is one of the 64 democracies to have elections this year. We are honored that one of the oldest Democracies has in the biggest democracies of the world a partner with whom to share views. Uruguay extends heartfelt congratulations to India for the past process in which the people have decided freely a continuity of its governors in this crucial journey to development. For my country the people´s decision is a very important part of our political development and we are sure that only by the free will of our citizens it is possible to advance in the road of progress and well-being.

The facilities to make business are crucial for entrepreneurship but democratic values are also essential for a better economic productivity. Free elections, independent judicial systems are necessary to create a good environment and we celebrate that India is aware of the need to advance in institutional progress.

It is really encouraging to see that our friendship has grown over the years. During these more than two decades that TaTa Consulting Services established itself in Uruguay, with its first opening in South America, the Indian group has also invited the Uruguayan architectural firm, head by Carlos Ott Architects, in association with Carlos Ponce de Leon Architects. To realize the project of TaTa Consultancy Campus which stands as an iconic development in the cyber corridor, distinct in the style, grandeur and aesthetics.

We are grateful that the Embassy in New Delhi has received the support from our Ministry of Foreign Relations to extend our territorial coverage for the establishment of Honorary Consulates in Chandigarh and Bangalore. On Tuesday we received the approval of Bangalore so Mr. Sanjiv Shanmugam we are happy to extend our congratulations. In the region we have completed the process to establish Honorary Consulates in Bangladesh and in Nepal.

I welcome in this reception our Honorary Consul in Sri Lanka, John Shiran Dissanayake and his family, as well as Mr. Mostafa Q. Sobhan in Bangladesh and Mr. Deewaker Pia in Nepal.

It is also very remarkable that the Constitutionalist origin mark has left in Uruguay a civic legacy that survives and has expanded into present times. My country is deeply democratic and egalitarian, a secular Republic where the only religion shared by all the population is equality in the Law, respect to the division of powers and the plurality of ideas and origins.

Free and universal education, public health care, strong unions, and a solid social security system have carried forward that legacy, creating a social balance that reflects the Uruguayan ethos of “nadie es más que nadie,” or nobody is worth more than anybody else. It now has the largest middle class in the Americas, including over 60% of the population.

“La desigualdad económica genera inestabilidad. Es como una olla a presión”, dice un observador. “En Uruguay hay menos tolerancia a la desigualdad que en otros países”.

And this adds to the fact that a new Indian IT company such as Infogain has also started doing business in Uruguay in 2022 and we see that this company has opened new horizons.

We are still hoping that companies from India take the advantage of using Uruguay as a hub for their activities directed towards South America. Their good experience throughout the years assures them great possibilities to expand their presence in our continent.

And last but not least, as time goes by our hope that India opens an Embassy in Montevideo is still in our hearts. That would be a way to improve our friendship and a good signal that this relationship will be reciprocal and with a very rewarding future. Ending this long wait would be an encouraging progress to celebrate during our bicentennial next year.

On this year celebration we will have a great wine tasting with Nalin Gupta in October. This reception has counted with the invaluable support of our dear friend Shabnam Kapoor from Taj Hotel. Also, we celebrate the Uruguayan singer Natalia Bolani with Master Alvaro Hagopian which will be showing us their talent on Monday and in next days in Bangalore.

As we celebrate tonight, I thank all those of you that have contributed greatly to consolidating the relationship between India and Uruguay.

Dhayawad!