On behalf of the People and Government of India, High Commissioner Shri. S. Gopalakrishnan handed over essential and anti-cancer medicines weighing 165 tons to the Hon’ble Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda at a ceremony held on 05 July 2023 at the Ministry of Health, Lilongwe. This gift is intended to support the national health services of Malawi. The medicines given include the second and last tranche of humanitarian assistance pledged by the Government of India in the wake of devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy. The gifting of anti cancer medicine was one of the announcements made by Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs Shri V. Muraleedharan during his visit to Malawi in June 2022. The Government of India has been regularly supporting Malawi in the field of Health. In recent years, India has provided essential medicines worth US$ 3 million, 10 ambulances and 50,000 doses of Covid vaccines to Malawi besides gifting medical equipment such as mammography, ultrasound machines and Bhabhatron Cancer treating machines. India and Malawi enjoy longstanding, cordial and friendly relations and India is one of the close developmental partners of Malawi. The gifting of medicines was yet another manifestation of India’s unwavering commitment to support Malawi.

A Parliamentary Delegation from Malawi, led by the Right Honourable Speaker of Malawi National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara visited India from July 30 to August 4, 2023. Speaker Hara with a 6 member Parliamentary delegation from Malawi called on Hon'ble Rashtrapati ji and Hon'ble Vice-President & Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar. She also had a bilateral meeting with Speaker of Lok Sabha Hon’ble Om Birla. Speaker Hara also met EAM. Speaker Hara and her delegation also had a meeting with Hon’ble Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of AYUSH, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal and discussed promotion of Ayush in Malawi. The delegation also visited Taj Mahal. This was the first ever visit by a Speaker of Malawi to India. The visit was aimed at further strengthening the existing friendly relations between India and Malawi particularly between the two Parliaments.

On August 4, 2023, the Government of Malawi and the Government of India held the Second Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in Lilongwe. Amb. Puneet R. Kundal, Joint Secretary (East & Southern Africa), Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian side while Malawi side was led by H.E. Bernard H. Sande, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the FOC, both delegations reviewed wide range of bilateral issues including political exchanges, development partnership, defense cooperation, trade and economic matters, consular issues and cooperation in areas as Agriculture, Education, Health, Mines and Mineral, Digital Technology, Renewable Energy, Art and Culture, etc. Both side agreed to further diversify cooperation in various areas to further strengthen this relationship.

On August 9, 2023 High Commissioner Shri S. Gopalakrishnan held a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, Right Honourable Catherine Gotani Hara, MP, and discussed issues of mutual interests. Separately, on August 23, 2023, High Commissioner also met Dr. Kenneth Zikhale N'goma, M.P., Minister of Homeland Security and discussed bilateral relations and issues of mutual interests. They also discussed enhancing cooperation between security agencies of two countries.

High Commissioner along with Honourable Minister for Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda and Honourable Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu visited the construction site of radiotherapy bunkers at the cancer center in Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe on 10 August 2023. The project involves the construction of four radiotherapy bunkers at a cost of US$7.4 million. One of the bunkers will house the Bhabhatron-II machine, a gift from the Government of India. The construction of the bunker started in July and it is expected to be completed by November 2023.

The High Commission celebrated the 77th Independence Day of India on August 15, 2023. High Commissioner Shri S. Gopalakrishnan hoisted the national flag and read Honourable Rashtrapatiji’s address to the nation. Large number of members of the Indian community and friends of India participated at the celebrations enthusiastically. Participants also took pictures at the selfie booth for Har Ghar Tiranga and Meri Mati Mera Desh campaign.

On September 15, 2023, the High Commission celebrated 59th Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Day (ITEC Day 2023) in Lilongwe. The celebration was graced by Honourable Minister of Local Government, Culture and Unity, Mr. Richard Chimwendo Banda, M.P., Honourable Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Mr. Sosten Gwengwe, M.P. and Mayor for Lilongwe City, His Worship Richard Banda. The celebration was attended by about 175 ITEC alumni (both Civilian and Defence) and Senior Government officials of the Government of Malawi, including Mr. Blessings Chilabade, Secretary for Human Resource Management and Development. In his remarks, Honourable Minister Richard Chimwendo Banda thanked India for its continued support to Malawi including through a capacity building program under ITEC. The Minister said that the ITEC program has been instrumental in enhancing skills among public and private sector officers thereby contributing to the development of the country.  In his remarks, the High Commissioner mentioned that ITEC is an important cooperation programme of the Government of India for delivering technical assistance, technology transfer and capacity building for our developing country partners. Through this programme, India shares its development experience and expertise in various fields with over 160 countries around the world including Malawi. He further mentioned that India’s development co-operation with our partners flows from our philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ which means the ‘World is one Family’. He also stated that Malawi is one of the partners of India under the ITEC cooperation and the ITEC scholarship program has helped to further strengthen the existing cordial and friendly bilateral relations between Malawi and India. At the event, some of the ITEC alumni who shared their experiences in India during their training in India highlighted the relevance of the training in their career. ITEC, programme was launched in 1964 and the ITEC Day is celebrated on 15th September every year, is India’s most successful partnership cooperation programme, provides technical assistance, training/capacity building opportunities to partner countries in a range of fields including IT, banking, administration, audit, scientific to both civil and defense personnel. India offers 300 short-term, medium-term and long-term courses every year in a wide and diverse range of skills and disciplines through over 50 empanelled institutions. Every year more than 15,000 training slots are offered under ITEC programmes in various fields to over 160 partner countries. India offers 150 slots of training courses to Malawi every year. Since 2007, over 900 Malawian nationals have availed training in India under the ITEC programme, among them, 43 Malawi Defence Force (MDF) personnels.

The High Commission organized Graduation Ceremony for 45 Malawian students who completed their Graduation / Post-Graduation / Diploma in various subjects under e-Vidya Bharati Arogaya Bharati (e-VBAB) on 15 September 2023 in Lilongwe. Hon’ble Richard Chimwendo Banda, M.P., Minister for Local Government, Culture and Unity, Hon’ble Sosten Alfred Gwengwe, M.P., Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs and Mr. Richard Banda, Mayor of Lilongwe City Council handed over the certificates to 45 students. Malawi is one of the largest beneficiaries under e-VBAB with over 1,900 enrollment in various courses. In his remarks, Minister Banda thanked India for supporting Malawi’s development agenda through providing human resource development assistance particularly by offering scholarships to Malawian students under e-VBAB and further mentioned that Malawian students have greatly benefitted under this unique project. Through e-VBAB Project, the Government of India offer scholarships to students from 22 African countries, including Malawi to pursue Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Diploma and Certificate programmes ONLINE from various premier Indian Universities / Institutes in various disciplines, including computer application, business administration and commerce, healthcare, tourism, humanities and arts etc. The enrolled students pursue their programmes / courses in ONLINE mode at their own comfort, anytime, anywhere using laptop / tablet / mobile with internet connection. Government of India has also set up an interactive classroom and a computer lab with 30 computers with high speed internet at NACIT, Blantyre Campus for the convenience of the students to attend classes.

On 16 September 2023, the High Commission celebrated Hindi Diwas 2023 at the Chancery premises. Members of the Indian diaspora, friends of India and families of the High Commission officials took part in the event. On the occasion, competitions such as Poetry Recitation, Essay writing, Hindi Speech etc. for both children and adults in Hindi Speaking and non-Hindi speaking categories, were organized. In his remarks, High Commissioner Shri S. Gopalakrishnan highlighted the history of Hindi language and the need for promoting Hindi around the world, including in Malawi. The event was organized to promote Hindi and to create interest in usage of Hindi language in day to day interactions.

INDIAN COMMUNITY CORNER

The Indian Community celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi from 17th to 22nd September, 2023 at the Shree Radha Krishna Temple in Lilongwe. The festival was commemorated through a chain of events including sports competitions, blood donation, prayers and cultural events. High Commissioner Shri S. Gopalakrishnan participated at the event. The event was also attended by Lilongwe city Mayor His Worship Richard Banda. The Mayor praised the community for significantly contributing to the development of the country and highlighted the peaceful co-existence of people belonging to various faiths in Malawi.

The Indian Community in Lilongwe celebrated the 77th Independence Day of India at the Indian Country Club (ICC), Lilongwe on 15 August 2023. High Commissioner Shri S. Gopalakrishnan and Dr. Macloud Kadammanja, CEO, Lilongwe City Council graced the event. Members of the Indian Community and Friends of India participated in large numbers. Shri Pramod Kalaria, President, ICC and Vice Chairman Shri J.B. Kotecha delivered welcome remarks. A cultural program was also held at the event. Prizes were also distributed to the winners of various sports events held in the run-up to the celebrations. The event was jointly organized by Indian Country Club, Indian Community Forum and the High Commission of India.

NEWS FROM INDIA

India's maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1 was successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota on September 02, 2023. Aditya-L1 mission is aimed at studying the Sun from an orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point 1 (L1) which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. Aditya-L1 has 7 distinct payloads developed, all developed indigenously. Five by ISRO and two by Indian Academic Institutes in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).Read more.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the 15th BRICS Summit held under South Africa’s chairship, in Johannesburg on 23 August 2023.

The leaders held productive discussions including on global economic recovery, partnership with Africa and the Global South and reviewed the progress made on the BRICS agenda so far.

In his remarks, Prime Minister Modi called for BRICS to be the Voice of the Global South. He also underlined India’s close partnership with Africa and reaffirmed India's commitment to support Africa in its development journey under Agenda 2063. Read more.