As Foreign Ministry Honors Him for Outstanding and Dedicated Service to the Government and People Liberia and Humanitarian Par Excellence

IPNEWS – Monrovia: Former Indian Honorary Consul General to Liberia, Mr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva has promised to continue with his humanitarian activities in Liberia whether he is Honorary Consul General or not.

Mr. Sachdeva, who is more popularly known in Liberia as “Jeety”, made the assurance Friday, April 23rd, when he was honored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia following more than 25 years of activities in the Consular Service for his native India.

“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 daily, presently,” Mr. Jeety stated.

India’s Ambassador Response to Jeety’s Honor

Meanwhile, the Indian Ambassador to Liberia with Concurrent accreditation to La Cotê d’Ivoire, Mr. Y. K. Sailas Thangal, expressed deep appreciation to the dnire Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tream led by Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah for deciding to honor Mr. Jeety for his momentous contributions in strengthening India’s bilateral ties with Liberia.

“Though I need not elaborate further, allow me to place on record that Mr. Jeety’s magnanimous selfless service extended to all Covid-19 patients admitted in the Covid-19 designated hospital and also providing home-cooked meals to thousands of less fortunate people are simply unparalleled and praiseworthy in the service towards humanity.

“During my short tenure as Ambassador, Mr. Jeety has become not only a colleague, but a bosom friend and brother and he truly symbolized a bridge between [the] Peoples of India and Liberia. I wish him [a] long-healthy life to continue his noble works.”

Jeety’s Tour of Duty as Consul General

During his tour of duty as Honorary Consul General, Mr. Jeety oversaw the surge in the cordial ties between India and Liberia. All throughout his more than two decades and half of service, he was privileged to work with at most 11 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; M. Gbehzohngar Findley; and Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr.

“In fact, we started our Consular and Diplomatic career in Liberia in 1994, first as Consular Assistant, rose to the rank of as 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.”

In his remarks, he disclosed that it was during former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s era that the bilateral ties between both nations were rose to another level.

“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.

President Sirleaf 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.”

Wordings on Honor Presented to Jeety

The wordings on the plaque presented to Mr. Jeety reads: “Ministry of Foreign Affairs presents this Award to Mr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva, for Honorary Consul General of India for Outstanding and Dedicated Service to the Government and People Liberia in Promoting Liberia-India Cooperation and for Humanitarian Par Excellence.”

Read his full speech here.