WORLD NEWS | Andaman and Nicobar Islands prepare for G20 opening ceremony

Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) [India]November 25 (ANI): The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are gearing up for the opening ceremony as India all gears up to assume the G20 presidency on December 1.

More than 40 heads of delegation and international organizations visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Friday for the G20 summit. Delegates visited the beehive jail where the British were imprisoning the writer and theorist Veer Savarkar.

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G20 India Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla and G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant accompanied the delegates during the visit.

On the reason for choosing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the opening ceremony of the G20, Shringla said: “Andaman is very important. Because you remember when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bali for the G20 summit, he told the President of Indonesia, Are we 90 nautical miles apart, we are 90 nautical miles apart. So 90 nautical miles is right here, right here in the Andaman Islands. So it’s symbolic. Andaman is the closest to Indonesia.”

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He had earlier said that New Delhi was organizing meetings across the country, on a pan-India basis, because the prime minister’s vision was that India’s G20 presidency should be an engaging process, which everyone felt was his presidency.

Meanwhile, the G-20 Sherpa said: “We started our journey from the Andaman Islands because there were some unknown freedom fighters who were being held in Indian cells. Therefore, we thought that many of our freedom fighters, including Veer Savarkar, who is being held here, should tell these stories to all foreigners and ambassadors, as well as major international organizations and all invitees.”

“Secondly, they will be told the full story of the Indian freedom movement, and also, that Indonesia was only 90 square miles away from them during the last presidency. Thirdly, the feel and flavor of the unique islands of the Andamans. We will tell them what they think of India​ ​how positive and progressive a second term as president would be,” he added.

Meanwhile, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said India is the right country to hold the G20 presidency at this time as it can bring other countries together at a difficult time when the world faces numerous challenges.

“Cell Prison, Port Blair is part of the past. It’s important for people like me to witness and acknowledge some of the shameful acts that were committed there. It’s a place that I respect and understand,” he added. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)