REMARKS BY MR. UPJIT SINGH SACHEDEVA, FORMER HONORARY CONSUL GENERAL OF INDIA IN LIBERIA
ON THE OCCASION OF AN HONORING PROGRAM ORGANIZED BY THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF LIBERIA IN HIS HONOR FOLLOWING END OF HIS TOUR OF DUTY, HELD AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, APRIL 23, 2021

 H.E. Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dean of the Cabinet and other Members of the Cabinet
 Doyen & Members of the Diplomatic & Consular Corps;
 Government Officials Present here;
 My fellow Countrymen present here;
 Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen;
 All Protocols Observed.

I want to, first of all, extend profound thanks and appreciation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, His Excellency Amb. Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, along with his able lieutenants for what I consider a very thoughtful and commendable gesture for honoring me , following the successful end of my tour of duty in Liberia as the Honorary Consul General of India in Liberia after having served in the position for over two and a half decades.

The ending of my duty tour in Liberia is occasioned invariably by the decision of the Government of India to open an Embassy with a resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Monrovia. In fact, the Indian Government’s decision to open a resident Embassy in Liberia is perhaps the greatest achievement of my incumbency as Honorary Consul General of India in Liberia.

I hasten to state in all sincerity how humbled I feel by the very kind words lavished on me by Amb. Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Foreign Minister of Liberia, apparently in recognition of our contribution in the strengthening India’s bilateral ties with the Republic of Liberia. I am exceedingly grateful and feel highly honored for the recognition.

In fact, we started our Consular and Diplomatic career in Liberia in 1994, first as Consular Assistant, rose to the rank of Acting Honorary Consul General, before subsequently been commissioned full Honorary Consul General by the Government of India in 1998, which position I served from then on to February 2021, when our tour of duty came to an end..

During our diplomatic sojourn in Liberia, we were privileged to work with great and very many Foreign Ministers, including G. Baccus Mathews; Momolu V. Sirleaf; Monie R. Captan; Thomas Yayah Nimley; Ambassador George W. Wallace, Jr.; Madam Olubanke King Akerele; Dr. Gayweah Toga McIntosh; Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan; Madam Marjon M. Kamara; Gbezohngah Findley; and until recently also your Excellency, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah.

Moreover, in those interactions, we made good friends and also cultivated good relations. I recall first meeting the late Foreign Minister G. Baccus Matthews at his office at Mamba Point where the Foreign Ministry was then located. As for Amb. George W. Wallace Jr., I first met him when he was serving as Senior Ambassador-at-Large, and he soon turned out to be my mentor, whom I would often turn to for guidance and advices. Ambassador Wallace I am grateful for all that you have done for me.

Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s era witnessed a dramatic surge in India-Liberia bilateral relations, as well as appreciable rise in the level of the economic, technical and cultural cooperation between our two countries, as evidenced by the exchange of high-level official visits to each other’s countries, starting with the official visit to Liberia of the Minister of State for External Affairs of India, Honorable Dr. Shashi Tharoor, from 16-19 September, 2009.

Dr. Tharoor’s visit then had been characterized as marking a significant turning point in the bilateral relations between India and Liberia, as the visit was the first in thirty-eight years to be paid by an Indian Minister. Dr. Tharoor’s visit was closely followed by the visit to Liberia by the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Honorable Valayar Ravi from February 3-4, 2010.

Dr Tharoor’s visit to Liberia occasioned the outright donation of US$2 million as grant-in-aid for projects in the education and health sectors, the supply of 25 transport buses, Spare Parts and Training of mechanics, drivers to augment the public transportation facilities of the Monrovia Transit Authority, and the setting up of two “Hole-in-the-wall” computer education center.

Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf herself was opportune to pay her first State visit to India by any President of Liberia from 9-12 September 2013, during which she received India’s most prestigious award, the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development for 2012. In 2015, President Sirleaf paid a second visit to India to attend the India-Africa Summit. In all these two visits, I was privileged to accompany her to India.

In December 2014, the Government of India donated another consignment of 15 new buses as India’s way of identifying with Liberia’s development challenges.

Since the inauguration of Dr. George M. Weah as President of Liberia, the President George Weah received in audience the Minister of State for External Affairs, Honorable M.J. Akbar from 1-2 March 2018 during which bilateral relations were renewed and ways to intensify India-Liberia relations were discussed.

One tangible outcome of the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs’ visit was the supply of 45 additional buses with accessories in December 2019 as gift from the Government of India to the Government of Liberia to help alleviate the acute transportation problem. Another outcome was the supply of five (5) Fire Trucks with accessories also in December 2019 as gift from the Government of India to the Government of Liberia to boost the capacity of the Liberia Fire Service to combat fire outbreaks in Liberia.

Moreover, as a result of the Minister of State’s visit, the Government of India gave to the Government of Liberia, a grant-in-aid in the amount of US$2 million to be used in the Health Sector. For the utilization of this grant assistance, the Government of Liberia applied the money towards completion of the 14 Military Hospital in Schefflin, specifically towards the building of a SHANTI Block to be used as Emergency Ward Annex.

Towards the goal of augmenting the Government of Liberia’s efforts in combatting the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic, the Government of India in August 2020 donated medical supplies comprised of a total of 480,000 doses of injection, infusion and tablets. On November 24, 2020, the Government of India again donated a second batch of medical supplies to the Government of Liberia to assist the Government of Liberia in its fight to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The second supply comprised of a total of 660,500 tablets, infusions, injections, and 500 pieces of infred thermometers.

More also, since the inception of the CDC Government in 2018, the Government of India has given over 150 training scholarships in various fields; and in the past 14 years, India has granted to date more than 1,000 scholarships to Liberian students, all in efforts geared towards developing the Liberia manpower capacity.
Excellency;

Meanwhile, I wish to assure you that, whether we are Honorary Consul General or not, our humanitarian gesture and keen interest in the implementation of home cooked food distribution program to the elderly and less fortunate Liberians who could ill-afford a meal a day will not diminish but will continue unabated for we see this as service to humanity and doing God’s work.

It may interest you to know that since we started our Home Cooked Hot Meal program in February 2017, a program only funded by us , we have delivered over 1.5 million hot cooked meals to the elderly, zogos and less fortunate. We are regularly serving 800- 1000 meals on daily basis presently.

I take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone who has helped us in discharge of our functions as Honorary Consul General of India in Liberia. Once again my sincere thanks and appreciation to Amb Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah Foreign Minister of Liberia and all the Staff members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for honoring us.

I THANK YOU ALL