The First Lady who is also the Minister of Karamoja Affairs, Mrs. Janet Museveni has commended the good bilateral relations prevailing between Uganda and India.
She paid the tribute at State House, Nakasero, when she met the new Indian High Commissioner to Uganda, H.E. Ramesh Chandra.
The First Lady observed that there has been a good relationship between the two countries for a long time.
She said Uganda had attained a lot of development since the restoration of peace and stability.
She further observed that the task today was to transform people's lives and grow the economy.
Mrs. Museveni also said the country used to import several items and was pleased to note that the situation had changed adding that more items are produced locally.
She said that the NRM Government’s target was to add value to local products stressing that food processing is very important for Uganda.
She was very pleased to note that the people of Karamoja are producing food which was not the case in the past.
Mrs. Museveni was excited to receive a delegation of 22 Ugandan students who have been given scholarships by the Indian Government and are preparing to travel later this week to the Asian country.
She counselled them and informed them that India was helping Uganda to train them in various disciplines.
She urged them to be serious about their studies and cautioned them against diverting into irrelevant issues. She called on the students to return to Uganda and work and serve the country.
She stressed that the students must observe discipline and must cooperate as a team during their studies in India.
The First Lady thanked India for its major contribution in the business sector in Uganda. She stressed that the major task at hand was to promote agro processing.
Mrs. Museveni expressed interest in Uganda acquiring affordable equipment from India.
She said that such equipment could be used by the Ugandans who have trained in India upon their return to Uganda.
She encouraged the wife of the High Commissioner, Mrs Chandra to get involved with the Ugandan women.
The Indian High Commissioner to Uganda, H.E. Ramesh Chandra revealed that the Indian Government was offering a total of 160 scholarships to Ugandans.
He said that out of these, it was offering 30 students professional training, 85 short term training and over 50 in infrastructure training.
He revealed that they were keen to see how they could network with the Uganda Police with particular emphasis in ICT. He echoed the First Lady’s call on the students to cooperate with the aim of scoring success.
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