By IANS,
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has called upon Swaziland Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini and assured the African country of India’s support for its development.
Kumar, who is in Swaziland to attend the executive committee meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), met Dlamini in Mbabane and said: “Though we are located in different continents, memories of what India and Swaziland have gone through in terms of struggles and hardships of the people bring the two countries closer and create areas of understanding for each other.”
The meeting between the two leaders took place Monday.
“The speaker assured Swaziland of India’s continued support in its development efforts as part of South-South Co-operation which India is engaged in strengthening,” said a release issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Dlamini said India has remained a good friend over five decades and the two countries were members of international organizations like the United Nations and the Commonwealth.
India has offered a line of credit (LOC) of $10 million to Swaziland for establishing a science and technology park in the African nation which is surrounded by South Africa on three sides and shares a border with Mozambique.
Dlamini expressed his happiness on this friendly gesture from India and hoped that it would be finalized soon, the release said.
“At a time when Swaziland is trying to find an identity in the global scenario, India is extending support to the country,” he said.
At the official opening of the CPA executive committee meeting, Kumar said that as the world’s largest democracy India is proud to be amongst the foremost members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
The speaker also met Indian families, mostly from Daman and Diu, who are engaged in businesses. She also met Indians serving as professors at institutions of higher learning in Mbabane.