EAM Jaishankar offers prayers at Salamanga Temple dedicated to Lord Rama in Mozambique

Maputo [Mozambique], April 15 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar offered prayers at the century-old Salamanga Temple dedicated to Lord Rama in Mozambique. He also interacted with the members of the Indian community while he visited the temple.
"Before leaving Mozambique, offered prayers at the century-old Salamanga Temple of Shree Ramchandrajee. Delighted to interact with our community there. Prayed for their health, well being and success," Jaishankar said in a tweet on Saturday.

EAM Jaishankar was on a visit to Mozambique from April 13-15 to further strengthen India's "strong bilateral relations" with the African nation.

At the 5th Joint Commission Meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that India and Mozambique have a lot in common, including a shared vision for progress and prosperity between the two countries.
He took stock of progress made in a wide spectrum of areas of cooperation, including trade & investment, agriculture, energy, railways, health, education, development cooperation and defence.
Jaishankar further stated that the two countries have a robust bilateral trade of about USD 4 billion.
"It is a trade in which both countries have an interest in growing. We are looking at discussing new areas in meeting the expectations and aspirations of our people. There are new demands and new opportunities on both sides and surely the Joint Commission should explore that very actively," he said.
India and Mozambique share a long-standing and friendly relationship that is deeply rooted in historical, cultural, and economic ties.
"Our solidarity goes back to an era where we have both struggled for freedom and before I came to this meeting today, I had the honour of paying homage to your leaders of that struggle at Heroes Square. This relationship, for many decades, has been nurtured by the keenest interest shown by our leaders. It is a matter of pride for us, that every President of Mozambique has visited India. From our side, the historic visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016, gave a new impetus to our bilateral relations. We look forward to receiving President Nyusi in India for the next edition of Vibrant Gujarat when it takes place," said Jaishankar.
"A large number of Indian nationals call Mozambique home. There is a community here, for a very long time and certainly, their role in bridging the economic partnership between our countries is very, very significant," he added.
"We also have a large Indian investment in this country, today estimated at about USD 11 billion, largely in the domain of energy and mining. And our development partnership which extends to 14 Lines of Credit, to the value of more than USD 770 million, is another example, a very practical example of South-South cooperation," said Jaishankar.
Earlier on Friday, Jaishankar took a ride in a 'Made in India' train in the country's capital Maputo.
"I had the privilege of riding with the Transport Minister in a train which was made in India and which is today operated by the railways of this country. And that is an example of how, we have been supporting each other in the growth of infrastructure, in responding to the needs of our population, in creating affordable and accessible opportunities for each other's people," he said.
Talking about defence ties between the two nations, he said, "Our defence ties have also taken giant strides in the past few years and we are again cooperating very effectively, especially when it comes to dealing with the challenges of terrorism."
Today, India-Mozambique cooperation spans a vast range of economic, developmental, people-to-people, and security domains. They also build on a long tradition of political cooperation, and this tradition has been particularly visible in multilateral forums.
"We are very glad that Mozambique is today, a non-permanent member of the Security Council and your presence, Minister, gives us a lot of satisfaction at seeing that an important voice of the Global South, sits at the highest councils of the world. Our commonality of world views has again underpinned our foreign policy cooperation and certainly, today as we look at the world we are also exploring, how India and Mozambique, as two important countries in the Indian Ocean, how we discharge our shared responsibility for ensuring peace and security in the Indian Ocean region. I can assure you that India will always be ready to cooperate with Mozambique in this regard," said Jaishankar.