Port of Spain, June 2 (IANS) Indian Arrival Day was organised by the Indian High Commission at Nelson Island of Trinidad and Tobago to mark 180 years since the arrival of the first group of immigrants from India at the shores of the Caribbean nation in 1845.
The event, held on Sunday, filled with music and culture celebrating Indian Arrival Day, was attended by a diverse audience, including Speaker of the House of Representatives of T&T Jagdeo Singh, Deputy Speaker Aiyna Ali, senior Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, Members of Parliament, Mayors, and community leaders of the Caribbean country.
Minister of Foreign and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Affairs Sean Sobers was the Chief Guest of the event.
All the dignitaries were welcomed by the Indian High Commissioner Pradeep Rajpurohit in a traditional manner.
The attendees toured the ruins and exhibits on the island.
The Indian Arrival Day is marked on 30th May, when the first ship ‘Fatel Razack’ carrying 225 Indian indentured workers reached the shores of Trinidad, then a British colony.
“The 225 passengers who disembarked from the Fatel Razack that day could hardly have known the transformative impact their arrival would have on the country. They came as immigrants, with the understanding that they would have the opportunity to return to India after five years of indentureship. Happily for Trinidad and Tobago, very few returned. The vast majority of them elected to remain in the country. And their courageous decision changed the course of our history, forever,” read a statement issued by the office of the President of Trinidad and Tobago.
“On Indian Arrival Day we celebrate their rich and lasting legacy. We celebrate their courage and their resilience, and the values and traditions that sustained them throughout their years of hardship and uncertainty. And we thank them for safeguarding and passing down the rich cultural heritage which has enriched and strengthened the fabric of Trinbagonian society beyond measure,” the statement added.
India enjoys traditionally warm and cordial relations with Trinidad and Tobago.
The bilateral relations were established on August 31, 1962. Since then, bilateral relations between the two countries have witnessed continued momentum with engagement at different levels.
India has also conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award on Christine Carla Kangaloo, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, recognising her outstanding achievements in public affairs and her contributions to enhancing India’s global prestige.
Kangaloo, an Indo-Trinidadian President, served as the chief guest for the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from January 8-10, 2025. She delivered a virtual address that received widespread applause across India and beyond.
During her address at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Kangaloo emphasised the deep-rooted ties between India and Trinidad and Tobago, dating back to 1845 when Indian indentured workers first arrived on the Trinidadian shores.
She highlighted that India was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Trinidad and Tobago after its independence in 1962.
The Indian Diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago has graduated from indentureship to entrepreneurship.
They constitute business magnates, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, professionals representing politics, law, medicine, academia and the like.
According to the Indian High Commission in Trinidad and Tobago, the diaspora is a formidable force, the largest numerical representation in the entire Caribbean; the most well-to-do and culturally strong and progressive ethnic group in the plural society of the country.
–IANS
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