By Michel Cousins.
Tripoli, 15 August 2013:
India is committed to “friendship and brotherhood” with Libya and wants to do more to help . . .[restrict]it “achieve its dreams” of reconstruction, development and prosperity, the Indian Ambassador Anil Trigunayat said in Tripoli today.
“We are living through historic times in Libya”, he said, speaking to an audience of Indians and Libyans on the occasion of Indian Independence Day this morning, and adding that “transition is not easy anywhere in the world.” However, despite the current security issues, there was good news as well. For example, trade and investment between India and Libya were growing fast, he said, and there were increasing contacts.
He pointed to the evidence. In the past year, some 3,000 new Indians ex-pats who had come to work in the country had registered with the Embassy. There were thought to be another thousand who had not registered. Of those who had registered, around a third were working in the healthcare sector.
Moreover, he said, Indian companies want to complete stalled projects and take up new ones.
Many of those at the Independence Day reception agreed there were particular resonances for the new Libya in part of the “Address to the Nation” given in New Delhi yesterday by the Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee which the Ambassador read at reception.
“Democracy is much more than the right to vote every five years; its essence is the aspirations of the masses; its spirit must influence the responsibilities of the leaders and duties of the citizens every day. Democracy breathes through a vibrant civil society, and a bureaucracy committed to integrity and hard work. It survives through accountability, not profligacy. And yet we have allowed unbridled personal enrichment, self-indulgence, intolerance, discourtesy in behaviour an disrespect for authority to erode our work culture. The biggest impact of the decay in the moral fibre of our society is on the hopes and aspirations of the young and the poor. . . The ideals of patriotism, compassion, tolerance, self-restraint, honesty discipline and respect for women have to be converted into a living force.”
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