Republic Day 2025 Speech
Sua Excelencia Sra. Ilza Maria dos Santos Amado Vaz, Ilustre Ministra dos Negocios Estrangeiros, Cooperacao e Comunidades
Sua Excelencia Sr. Manuel Silva Cravid, Presidente do Supremo Tribunal de Justica
Sua Excelencia Sr. Ricardino Costa Alegre, Presidente do Tribunal de Conta
Distinguished Ministers of the Government of Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Ambassadors, Representatives and Coordinators from the United Nations and multilateral organizations, fellow diplomatic colleagues, senior officials from the Government of Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe, members of the media and dear members of the Indian community in Sao Tome,
Boa noite, Namaskar, good evening and a very warm welcome to today’s event when we all have gathered to celebrate the Republic Day of India.
Although India became an independent country on 15 August 1947, which is celebrated as the Independence Day, today was the day when India gave effect to its Constitution in 1950. Since then, on every Republic Day, India celebrates the empowerment of its citizens to select their own government, cherishes the rights and duties of its citizens, upholds the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and celebrates its immense cultural diversity.
The governing principle of the Indian Constitution is “Of the People, For the People and By the People” which signifies that the power is vested in the hands of the citizens of India.
The distinguishing character of our Republic brings together more than 1.4 billion of Indians to live as one family. For this largest family in the world, co-existence is not an imposition of geography but a source of happiness.
Such momentous occasions as today are good opportunities for us a Nation to retrospect and plan our future direction accordingly. If we look at the year since the last Republic Day, there is much to be pleased about.
Last year the largest democratic exercise in human history was successfully carried out in India. 642 million voters exercised their ‘Right to Vote’ and elected 543 Members of the Lower House of Parliament of India. Another major milestone was that out of above number of voters, 312 million were women voters, which was the highest ever so far. For this large number of voters, a total of 5.5 million Electronic Voting Machines were used. The most accomplishing part of this exercise was that by the use of technology, the counting of more than 642 million votes was done in less than 8 hours.
India has always been proud of its scientists and technology experts but now they are aiming far higher than before and delivering too. Recently, the Indian Space Research Organization successfully demonstrated the space docking between two satellites. India has now become the 4th country in the world to master this technology and this remarkable achievement would pave the way for ambitious space missions ahead.
As the pharmacy of the world, India produces more than 25 % of the global demand for all kinds of medicines at low cost. India is already the largest vaccine producer in the world and its unique selling point on vaccine production has been high volume and effectiveness, combined with low cost.
India’s Unified Payment Interface has truly revolutionized the banking and financial sectors in India. With more than half of the fast payments in the world happening on this platform, it has become the most popular fast payment solution globally. Besides India, the UPI system is also being used by 6 other countries in the world. The number of daily transactions on this platform is more than 500 million and this number is expected to reach more than 1 billion by the year 2027.
Dear friends, presently the world’s largest religious event known as Maha Kumbh is taking place in India. More than 450 million religious pilgrims would be taking part in this 45-days long festival which will continue till 26 February. This largest human congregation on planet earth is even visible from space and rightly demonstrates the rich cultural heritage of my country.
The Voice of Global South Summit is one of the most unique platforms of the changing world order of the 21st Century. Last year, India successfully organized the 3rd Global South Summit in which His Excellency Mr. Gareth Guadalupe, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities participated and presented the views of the Government of Sao Tome & Principe.
India and Sao Tome & Principe have always been cordial partners. Our bilateral ties have been growing since the establishment of a resident India embassy in this country. Both our countries share strong democratic traditions and a broad-based developmental agenda. We look forward to strengthening our existing bilateral linkages with Sao Tome & Principe, especially in the fields of health, agriculture, education and capacity building.
Recently, the Government of India sent a consignment of life saving and essential medicines to Sao Tome which has been handed over to the Honourable Minister of Health of Sao Tome two days back. Since the opening of the Resident Mission in Sao Tome in September 2020, this was the fifth such medical assistance by the Government of India to the friendly country of Sao Tome & Principe and re-affirms India’s commitment to the Global South cooperation.
India continues to provide capacity building support to Sao Tome & Principe. During the last year, 15 officials from Sao Tome & Principe have attended the capacity building courses in India. Similarly, a 3-member delegation from Sao Tome & Principe attended the International Solar Alliance Assembly held in New Delhi.
A 14-member cultural troupe from the country participated in the 37th International Suraj Kund Crafts Mela held in India during February last year. Yoga has been one of the best contributions of India to the world. It was indeed an honour when the then Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Ms. Euridice Semedo, represented Sao Tome & Principe at the International Day of Yoga held in Sao Tome in June last year.
I thank the Honourable Minister for gracing the occasion as our honoured guest. I am deeply thankful to all the distinguished Ministers and senior officials, my diplomatic colleagues and all our friends for their presence today.
Dear Excellencies and friends, it is said that in today’s world, the best gift is the time spent together with friends. I am sincerely grateful to all of you for sparing your valuable time for my country India and gracing today’s occasion.
Muito obrigado
