“Namascar! Madam President. Apka Lisbon Me Swagat Hai” is how the mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas welcomed President Murmo to the ceremony to give the honorary urban key, thus becoming an honorary citizen of the town of seven hills.
The president, who is on a two -day state visit to Portugal, received an honorary guard in Camara Municipal de Lisboa, a historic building where he played from his noble balcony in 1910 to announce the first Portuguese Republic.
She was taken to a noble salon, where the ceremony was handed over by the honest key of the city with a room full of Indians who settled there.
Mr. Moedas said that with the handover of the honest key of the city, President Murmu became an honorary citizen in Lisbon.
The President, who started his address with the traditional Portuguese greeting “Bom Diana”, said that the cultural context between “India and Portuguese reverberation for centuries and left an indelible mark in our everyday life”.
She said that “a shared sense of responsibility in international affairs also makes us natural partners in regional and versatile forums”.
The President said “Portugal was a respected partner of India in promoting our relations with the European Union and Lusophone countries, where Portuguese is the official language”.
“In Portugal, evidence of this strong cultural connection can also be seen in the widespread popularity of Indian art, culture, cuisine, yoga and Ayurveda,” she said.
She said it refers to the Indian diaspora as the “subsoil of our relations” and contributes to the society and economics of Portugal.
At the beginning of his speech, which honored the President, the mayor remembered the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who quoted the principle of “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” (the world is one family) from the “upanishads” during the G20.
“This sentence tells everything that we have to reject social division, versus us.
“I started with a memory of the old Indian verse for social harmony (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam). This is exactly what we do, sharing history by doing innovations that have an impact on people’s lives by working in social politicians that give people first.
“This is a way to avoid the sectarianism that UPANISHAD warned us. This is India’s lesson today,” he said.
The mayor said, “We are all addicted to the other and we all learn from each other”.
“That’s something we feel very deep here in Lisbon, and that’s why there are so much in common. At first, identity, our shared history, India and Portugal, not only a revolution in science, navigation, geographical knowledge, was inspired by our ancient rich civilization and culture. said.
He said India was an “innovative powerhouse”, said India was a country made of unicorn.
“There are more than 110 unicorns in India today, just for Portuguese friends. It is most and all the European Union together,” he said.
He said India was a nation of companies, startups, with more than 130,000 startups working every day in innovation.
“However, Lisbon is also the city of innovation. In 2023 we won the European City of Innovation Award with a project called Unicorn Factory, Startup Innovation Center, Scalers,” he said.
“And because we launched it, our unicorn factory, we attracted more than 14 unicorn, more than 74 technological companies to Lisbon and created more than 16,000 jobs,” he said.
“At first I talked about innovation, but innovation makes no sense unless it benefits people’s life unless they benefit common good. And today I am proud to have entrepreneurs in this room. They work for common good.
The Indian community in Portugal counts approximately 1,25,000, including more than 35,000 Indian nationals and 90,000 people of Indian origin, with a large number of them roots in Gujarat and Goa. Portugal has a population of about 10 million.
The community, extended through Lisbon, Algarve and Porto, has become an integral part of the social and economic environment of Portugal.
Published – April 8, 2025 12:15
