Envoys Present Credentials to President

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

The Envoys who presented their credentials were: - His Excellency Mr. Parahat Hommadovich Durdyev, the Ambassador of Turkmenistan, His Excellency Prof. Festus Kaberia, the High Commissioner of Kenya, His Excellency Dr. Ferdinand Maultaschl, the Ambassador of Austria, Her Excellency Ms. Ebyan Mahamed Salah, the Ambassador of Somalia and His Excellency Mr. Zhang Yan the Ambassador of China.

The President, during her interaction with the Heads of Missions, stated that India seeks to build and strengthen friendly relations with all countries. In this context the President emphasised the importance of increasing trade and investment and enhancing people-to-people contacts. Smt. Patil said technological innovation must be harnessed for the removal of poverty and for providing better health facilities to people and called for cooperation in the field of Science and Technology. The President also spoke about more educational exchange programmes.

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