Suriname confers ‘Grand Order of the Chain of the Yellow Star’ to President Droupadi Murmu
- In Reports
- 12:12 PM, Jun 06, 2023
- Myind Staff
President Droupadi Murmu has been conferred with the ‘Grand Order of the Chain of the Yellow Star’, the highest civilian award of Suriname. She received the honour from the President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi. President Murmu is the first Indian to receive this award.
Accepting the highest honour bestowed upon her, the President said that this recognition holds tremendous significance for not just her but for more than 1.4 billion Indians, whom she represents. She also extended her heartfelt gratitude to the Government of Suriname and said that the award symbolizes the enduring bond of cooperation between the two nations.
She dedicated the award to the "successive generations" of the Indian-Surinamese community.
"I also dedicate this honour to the successive generations of the Indian-Surinamese community, who have played a stellar role in enriching the fraternal ties between our two countries," she further said.
Informing about the same, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi took to Twitter and wrote, “An honour reflective of the deep-rooted ties! President Droupadi Murmu conferred with the 'Grand Order of the Chain of the Yellow Star', the highest civilian award of Suriname by President Chandrikapersad Santokhion.”
President Murmu is in Suriname for a three-day state visit. Yesterday, President Murmu held delegation-level talks with her Surinamese counterpart. During the discussions, the President noted that like India, Suriname is also a diverse country where people of different castes, languages, and religions live in peace and harmony. According to her, the diverse and contemporary friendship between India and Suriname is built on strong historical and cultural links. She was pleased to note that Hindi is widely spoken in Suriname which reminds her of her motherland.
The President also mentioned that the bilateral commerce between the two countries falls well short of its potential. She stated that cooperation is required in order to increase bilateral trade to both parties’ advantage. In light of this, three MoUs were signed between the two nations. Two MoUs were signed in the field of Health and one in the field of Agriculture. In addition, the Indian government said that it would send Suriname 5.1 crore rupees worth of vital medications to help with flood relief. President Murmu gave President Santokhi a symbolic shipment of medications during a ceremony at the presidential palace.
At a special briefing of the media, in Paramaribo, Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs said that amongst the various measures taken by the Indian Government to strengthen bilateral ties between the nations, the Government of India has extended the OCI facility to the 5th & 6th generation of Persons of Indian origin in Suriname. This was a long pending demand of the Indian diaspora there.
The President’s office informed that she was also presented special covers of stamps in order to mark 150 years of the arrival of Indians in Suriname. “The President symbolically presented a box of medicines to President Santokhi as a token of India’s donation of emergency medicines to Suriname,” her office said in a tweet.
Image source: Twitter
Comments