Jaishankar opens G-20 Photo Booth
Source: Chronicle News Service / DIPR

Imphal, November 26 2022: "We want the G-20 to be celebrated and participated by the entire country," Union minister of external affairs Dr S Jaishankar said on Saturday.

He was speaking as chief guest of the Cultural Evening the Manipur Sangai Festival held at Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT), here.

Earlier, the Union minister inaugurated a G-20 Photo Booth at Hapta Kangjeibung.

It may be mentioned that India is hosting the G 20 summit in 2023 .

After inaugurating the G-20 Photo Booth, Dr S Jaishankar said it is the first G-20 booth unveiled in the country, while maintaining that with the involvement of people of the state, the G-20 has actually begun in Manipur.

Stressing that the G-20 is a big event, he elaborated that the government wants the event to be not only a government's initiative but also desires that public be part of it and interact with it so it will be celebrated across the country.

As part of the inauguration programme, Dr S Jaishankar also interacted with students and explained the objective of G-20 .

To the young students who attended the inaugural event, the Union minister stated that the government wants to show the world the real enthusiasm, energy of young people.

At the evening cultural event at the BOAT, Dr S Jaishankar conveyed that there will be multiple cities and states of India that will be hosting various events related to the G-20 and obviously Manipur will also be one of them.

"We also want to do it in a way that the people of India have a sense of relationship and ownership with the G-20," he said, while expressing hope that the people of Manipur and the state will certainly welcome the event in a grand manner.

Stating that this is an opportunity to familiarise the entire world with a sense of what India is, he emphasised that a large part of it is related with tourism promotion.

"We really think tourism promotion is one of the big untapped potentials for growth in the country especially in North East region and certainly festivals like this have their own attractions, he said, while further highlighting other attractions like nature, culture, living heritage, art and craft.

He also assured that ME A is.

hrmly committed to bringing development in NE and Manipur.

Further in his speech, the Union minister highlighted the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech and expressed that when the PM had asked "us to put the colonial mentality behind us," he had meant that "we should be who we are".

"That our culture, our tradition, our heritage must be something that we will protect, that we will nurture, that we will build up and that we will express and pass down to the younger generation, he asserted.

He emphasised on the centre's and the PM's commitment towards the NE and said it is not one of a kind gesture which is demonstrated in terms of resources, projects and in terms of attention.

The union minister further stressed that today one can see growth and progress of the NE region, greater connectivity both within the region and with other parts of the country and neighbouring countries.

On the other hand, speaking as the chief host of the cultural evening, chief minister N Biren Singh announced that PM Narendra Modi will be addressing the closing function of the Manipur Sangai Festival, 2022 .

"Manipur is small, but we have more than 34 communities with different dialects, different food habits, this is the beauty of India and the beauty of Manipur," he said, while emphasising on this year's theme 'Festival of Oneness'.

He lauded the people of the state for their spirit, participation and support to the festival as well as for their good behaviour during the festival and said that he has witnessed the decency, hospitality shown to the people coming from outside and cleanliness of the people of the state during the past six days.

The cultural evening was also attended by minister of state for external affairs Dr RK Ranjan Singh, ministers, MLAs and chief secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar among others.

Various cultural performances including a cultural mosaic of communities from NE states, a Drum Medley from drummers from Japan and Manipur were the high lights of the event.

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