New British High Commissioner, four other foreign envoys present credential to President

President Ram Nath Kovind accepted credential from new British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, in a virtual ceremony on Thursday.

Ellis said that 2021 would be a significant year for the UK-India partnership, both bilaterally and on the global stage. The UK government had made clear the importance it places on its relationship with India, as visits by the British Foreign and Trade Secretaries, Dominic Raab and Elizabeth Truss, to New Delhi underlined. “My immediate priorities include preparing for the UK Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to India and, I hope, welcoming India to the G7 and COP26 summits in the UK later this year,” said the new High Commissioner to India.

He said that he would be looking to build a deeper, more forward-looking partnership between the UK and India that would benefit peoples of both the nations and the world, through creating jobs by increased trade and investment, furthering excellent health cooperation, working to keep countries safe, and tackling the global challenge of climate change together. “It also means nurturing the unique “living bridge” of people and ideas that ties us together, and makes the UK-India relationship like no other.”

The President also accepted the credentials from Hugo Javier Gobbi, Yasiel Alines Burillo Rivera, Guillermo Rubio Funes and Hayet Talbi, the new envoys of Argentina, Panama, El Salvador and Tunisia respectively.

Kovind conveyed his good wishes to the envoys on their appointment. He said that India enjoyed warm and friendly relations with all the five countries and that the ties were deeply rooted in a common vision of peace and prosperity. He also thanked their Governments for supporting India’s candidature for the non-permanent seat of UN Security Council for the term 2021-22.

He said that India had been at the forefront of global efforts to forge a decisive and coordinated response to the Covid-19 to ensure collective health and economic well-being. He further stated that under the government of India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative, highly affordable vaccines made in India have already reached several countries, re-enforcing our reputation as “Pharmacy of the World”.