BHUBANESWAR: President of Trinidad and Tobago Christine Carla Kangaloo on Thursday said India has long-standing ties with her country which date back to 1845 when Indians first arrived at the Trinidadian shores.
In her virtual address to the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas as the chief guest, Kangaloo said the two countries continue to have good relations. “India was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Trinidad and Tobago following our Independence in 1962. However, our ties with India precede that date by over a century,” she added.
Kangaloo further praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the help extended by India to her country during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Prime Minister Modi had extended great help to the people of Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 pandemic by providing vaccines at the request of the prime minister of our country,” she added.
Stating that the contribution of India and its people to the development of world civilisation is immense, she said world’s first university is said to have been established in 700 BC. The art of navigation is believed to have originated in the Sindhu river, she said and added that 6,000 years ago algebra, trigonometry and calculus were first developed in India.
Acknowledging the profound impact of Indian heritage on the world, she said India was the first civilisation to use zero as a symbol and in arithmetic operations. “The game of chess and the decimal system are among India’s numerous gifts to the world. Furthermore, Shushruta, regarded as the father of surgery, is India’s own luminary,” she added.