Says visit timely and successful
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas is in India on an official Working Visit, where he was a guest of honour at a Business Banquet following a visit to the Golden Temple in the Punjab state.
According to press releases emanating from the Communications Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister (CUOPM), Dr. Douglas is in India and is accompanied by His Excellency Kevin Isaac, St. Kitts and Nevis’ High Commissioner to London, and Senior Assistant in the Office of the Prime Minister Beverly Knight.
A release stated that earlier today (Apr. 6) the PM visited the Golden Temple of Amritsar and that he later addressed a group of businessmen and highlighted “the symbolic importance of the visit and stressed the universality of God, religious tolerance and faith”.
Dr. Douglas, the release stated, hopes to increase ties with the peoples of India and the twin-island Federation.
The Golden Temple is the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion and is situated in the city of Amritsar.
It is said that this important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal with more than 100 000 visitors on week days alone and is the most popular destination for non-resident Indians in the whole of India. Also the city of Amritsar houses the Sikh temporal and political authority, Akal Takht, as well as the Sikh Parliament.
According to historians, the sacred city of the Amritsar has come to assume a special significance in Hindu cosmology because of various mythical and historical connections. It is particularly near and dear to Hindus as it is believed that the twin sons of King Rama - Luv and Kush, along with their mother Mata Sita, spent their early childhood in the ashram of Bhagwan Maharishi Balmiki ji in the land of Amritsar, currently known as Ram Tirath.
Meanwhile, another release states that Dr. Douglas is hopeful that the Federation would benefit from Indian investment in tourism, renewable energy, financial services and manufacturing.
At the Business Banquet hosted at Batch castle in Ludhiana, which is the capital of Punjab state, the PM met with over 100 Indian industrialists and business personnel to discuss the possibilities of developing partnerships between the business communities in India and St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Prime Minister Douglas stressed the global economic and financial recession has had severe impact not only on large economies in Europe, Asia and the United States, but also on small economies around the world,” the release stated.
For this reason, it added, he emphasised that the government of St. Kitts and Nevis could no longer pursue its public sector investment programme alone, but must now rely heavily on new partnerships with the private sector, especially those in Brazil and India; hence his visit to that country at this critical juncture.
“At the end of the evening, a delegation of 20 business people met with Prime Minister Douglas to express their desire to undertake a visit to St. Kitts and Nevis to map out possible partnerships in the areas of tourism, renewable energy, tourism, financial services and manufacturing,” the release added.
Dr. Douglas who left St. Kitts on Tuesday (Apr. 3) for the Asian country described his visit so far as “not only timely but quite successful”.
