PM HARRIS PRAISES CONTRIBUTIONS OF INDIA AND THE INDIAN COMMUNITY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ST. KITTS AND NEVIS

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, February 07, 2022 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has hailed the contributions of the Republic of India and members of the Indian community to the development of the Federation.

Prime Minister Harris was the special guest of India’s High Commissioner to St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, at a Republic Day Reception hosted in celebration of India’s 73^rd Republic Anniversary. The event was held at Tiranga Indian Restaurant on Sunday, February 06, 2022.

Republic Day in India is observed annually on January 26. The observation marks the day India’s constitution came into effect, thereby completing its transition to a sovereign republic.

Making remarks on the occasion, Prime Minister Harris highlighted the strong relationship that exists between the Republic of India and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Dr. Harris also lauded the Asian nation for being a significant player on the world stage, most notably in the field of health.

“Over the last year plus, we have seen India’s excellence, its compassion in its diplomacy and its sense of leadership when it became the first country to significantly utilize its vast competence and achievement in the development of pharmaceuticals to make vaccines—then scarce in many developing countries—available to the world,” the prime minister said.

In March of 2021, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis received a batch of 20,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the Government of India.

Moreover, Prime Minister Harris said the impact of the Indian community can be felt across every fabric of socioeconomic life in St. Kitts and Nevis.

He said, “Retail and wholesale have for long been dominated by Indian entrepreneurs and I’m sure many would recall fondly the astute businessman name Kishu [Chandiramani] of the Rams Group of Companies. In tourism and hospitality, your Indian entrepreneurs are there with us and in the field of offshore education, your own Honorary Consul Ramesh [Mulkanoor] provided leadership at Windsor and brought a significant number of nationals and persons of Indian descent to St. Kitts and Nevis, many of whom have made St. Kitts and Nevis their home.”

This year’s 73^rd anniversary celebrations were postponed from January 26 due to the rise in COVID-19 infections associated with the fourth wave of the deadly virus.
-30-