At an initial glance, Latvia and India seem worlds apart from each other. Latvia is 51 times smaller than India. But, Latvia and India have deep yet not commonly known links dating back centuries. An example of this is the fact that Latvian and Sanskrit share a common linguistic ancestor, the Proto-Indo-European language. Just like India, Latvia’s history is very ancient and dates back to over 2, 000 years and has a unique and diverse culture, traditions and legacy. Latvia also has a rich musical tradition like India, we have over 1 million folk songs and we celebrate our traditional festivals such as Liigo with the same enthusiasm and fervour as Indians celebrate festivals like Diwali.
Latvia and India have ancient trade links in the form of the Amber Way trade route, which can be re-established.
Though India and Latvia established diplomatic relations only after 1991 when Latvia gained it’s independence, our ties have already grown manifold. Latvia celebrated its centenary in 2018 and the celebrations would go on till 2021.
India will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of its independence in 2022. As we reach that historic milestone, I, as the ambassador of Latvia to India, would like to outline three major tasks I would like to perform to strengthen our already cordial relationship and elevate our partnership and cooperation to a new level.
First and foremost, I would urge the government of India to open a fully independent embassy in Latvia, separate from the current embassy of India to Sweden and Latvia, situated in Stockholm, Sweden.
This would ensure easier access for Indians and Latvians alike to various facilities such as getting documents and visas, resolving issues of the Indian diaspora and direct contact between our officials.
Secondly, I would focus on improving our cooperation in higher education. Latvia has established the Centre for Baltic studies and culture at many Indian universities and we would like to set up many more of them to spread awareness among the people of India regarding the Baltic region in general and Latvia in particular. We have various excellent universities such as the University of Latvia and the Riga Technical University, which are becoming increasingly popular among foreign students since 2013, including those from India. This is evident by the increase in the number of students studying in Latvia to 1, 233 students in 2017 from 750 just a year ago. However, there is still a lot more scope for many more Indian students to study here as our universities provide various courses such as engineering, management and IT at a relatively low price. I would encourage more Indian students to come to Latvia by conducting workshops in various schools and colleges.
Thirdly, I would like to contribute to increasing our bilateral trade from the current level of around $ 150 million to at least 500 million by 2025. Latvia can act as a gateway for Indian goods to Europe and CIS. India’s digital India programme can benefit immensely from Latvia’s IT sector and it’s unique and innovative start-up ecosystem. Latvia-India trade can be significantly improved by increasing our trade in goods such as iron and steel, pharmaceuticals, jewellery, chemicals etc. while also approaching new avenues like cooperation in the field of renewable energy. I would suggest the government of India to expand our cooperation in the areas of transport and logistics as India can use the Port of Riga to supply goods to Eurasia. Tourism would also be a priority for me as it would improve our people to people relations.
India and the world just celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of the great champion of peace, Mahatma Gandhi. The Baltic Way, which was a catalyst for our independence, similarly continues to serve as a shining beacon of the power non- violence holds. It is also a symbol of our shared values and ideals which, I am sure, we will continue to cherish.
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