On 15 August H. E. Mr. Sanjay Rana, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Bulgaria, and his wife, Ms. Barbara Jaworska,

hosted a reception at their residence in Boyana on the occasion of the national holiday of the country. This year India is celebrating its 76th Independence Day. The reception was attended by ambassadors, diplomats, representatives of the administration, business and media, friends of India.

After listening to the anthems of India and Bulgaria, H. E. Mr. Sanjay Rana addressed his guests:

I am delighted to welcome each one of you to the India House on India’s 77th Independence Day. We highly value and appreciate your presence at our celebration.

I also offer our heartiest greetings to our Bulgarian friends who are celebrating the Holy festival of Assumption of Mary.

For Indians, this day celebrating our independence from colonial rule on 15 August 1947 is an important occasion.

When we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of our Independence last year, we resolved to dedicate the next twenty-five years on working to bring India to the ranks of developed nations.

For us Indians, today is the day to renew our pledge to work for a developed India leaving the colonial mindset behind, working together united , taking pride in our legacy and fulfilling the needs of our citizens with honesty.

On economic front, Indian economy has made a robust recovery and continues to grow at a healthy pace of 6-7 percent. Inflation is under control and job opportunities are growing. Over the course of the last 10 years, the government has created conditions to assist 135 million people to come out of poverty and be part of the middle class.

On the external front, it has been a busy year with India holding the Presidency of G-20 countries since last December. In the last nine months or so, India has hosted more than hundred meetings involving G-20 ministers, senior officials, and civil societies. These will culminate in a G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 9–10th. As G-20 presidency, our leadership has tried to bring the issues of global challenges being faced by mankind, especially the interests and concerns of the developing countries on the agenda of the G-20 to make its activities relevant to the wider international community even beyond the 20 large countries that are part of it.

At the bilateral level, I am happy to note that India-Bulgaria relations continue to grow in all areas. In the very beginning of this year, we had a meeting between Hon’ble President of Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Rumen Radev and our External Affairs Minister Mr. S. Jaishankar. Our EAM and the Acting Foreign Minister Mr. Ivan Kondov met in May on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Forum. Besides high-level political contacts, four large business delegations from India visited Bulgaria over the course of the last year. This shows that there is a great deal of interest to ramp up our trade and investment relationship and build solid dependable supply chains.

There is also a keenness on both sides to enhance our cooperation in research and innovation. We see immense synergies for our companies and institutions to work together in areas like green hydrogen, electric vehicles, batteries, recycling of e-waste, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and biotech and defence production.

From the perspective of our relationship with the European Union, which is India's largest trading and investment partner, we see Bulgaria as a key partner. I am happy to share that the EU and India have launched negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement and Agreements on Geographical indications GI and Investment. We envisage that these agreements will be especially relevant to India-Bulgaria relations given Bulgaria’s business friendliness and highly advantageous geographical location.

Dear Guests,

As a responsible member of the world family, India is willing and ready to contribute to its full capacity in sharing all responsibilities to make the world a better place for everyone, a safer place, a more peaceful place and a happier place.

I would like to mention two of many initiatives we are working on as a country towards this goal:

One is promoting the production and consumption of Millets, or Proso as it is called where, which is a rough kind of grain, rich in nutrition. It takes much less water to grow and can be grown in difficult conditions like arid climate and stressed soil. We see Millets as a possible solution to the global threat to food security from climate change and water shortages and soil degradation.  You will find here a stand here where you can see and sample some of the Millet products which our companies are producing.

Another initiative we are pursuing is promoting the “Lifestyle for Environment Mission” or LIFE Mission in short. This Mission underlines that besides whatever the governments and corporates are doing to protect the environment and undo the damage of climate change, it is also the responsibility of each of us as a responsible citizen of the world to embrace and adopt a lifestyle which protects world, its climate, and its resources. It involves each of us taking steps to avoid wastage or excess consumption of precious goods like water and electricity and food and energy resources .

As I end, I express my deep gratitude for all the persons who have worked for making the relations between India and Bulgaria stronger. In this regard, I would like to especially mention the contribution of the Indo-Bulgarian Associations, namely the East-west Indological Foundation and the Indian Association, Friends of India Club and Devam Foundation which have been instrumental in several cultural and educational projects in Bulgaria. Today's dance performance and the Days of Indian culture in Veliko Tarno, Burgas and Varna over the next week have been arranged by Mrs. Yordanka Boyonova, East west Foundation and Indian Association.

Thank you,

And naturally, as always, on India's national holiday, the guests had a wonderful time, enhanced by the delicious specialties of Indian cuisine and the incredible Indian dances.

Photos – courtesy of the Embassy of the Republic of India to the Republic of Bulgaria.

Above: H. E. Mr. Sanjay Rana, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Bulgaria