What according to you has been the role of the Indian diaspora in Zambia in cementing ties between our two nations?

Indians living in Zambia—mostly we call them Indian-Zambians—have actively participated in fruitful economic activities that are benefitting both countries. And cultural exchanges are also top of the agenda. For example, at a few festivals we’ve had quite a number of invitations. We are just developing that in Zambia in terms of uptake, especially from the youth, in cultural and film promotion. That is one way we would like to go, and we are slowly gaining ground. Also Indian Zambians are into all sectors—education, transport, communications, farming, you name it. They also do what they know best—trading. They’ve cemented relations to the extent of even marrying in the community. They have integrated, so most of them live in the community among Zambians. There is no problem at all.

I highlighted the fact that Zambia is a very peaceful country. As long as one is not in conflict with the law, people will live happily without anybody bothering them. And from the time the Indian President visited Zambia, we’ve seen a lot of trading, a lot of tourism, lot of other issues getting cemented between our two nations through Indian-Zambians living in Zambia. The visit was well covered, and people were happy. We look forward after our President’s visits to a visit by Prime Minister Modi and others. We are looking forward to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Zambia. If we can hold the JPC, it’d be good. So I see escalation and cementation in terms of relations between Zambia and India. This is what the regime within this Mission would like to see.