SAARC Diary: Bagley Attends Second Anniversary Commemoration of Terror Attack in Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI, Apr 22: Gopal Baglay the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka on Wednesday attended a solemn ceremony at St. Anthony’s Church to commemorate the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday attacks that took place in 2019. He lit a candle in memory of the attack’s victims and prayed for the wellbeing of those who are still suffering as a result of its aftermath.

According to a release by the Indian High Commission in Colombo, Baglay, had paid tribute last year too on May 23, 2020, after arriving in Sri Lanka with a consignment of critical medical supplies from India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid his respects at the Church during a solidarity visit to Sri Lanka in June, 2019.

St. Anthony’s Church was one of the Easter Sunday attacks’ targets on April 21, 2019, along with two other churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo which resulted in the deaths of 269 people, including ten Indians, foreign nationals, and law enforcement officers.

NEPAL

To celebrate the on-going India@75 program, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Thursday presented 39 ambulances and six school buses to various governmental and voluntary non-profit organisations working in the fields of health and education. These organisations are located across Nepal including remote districts.

According to the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, since 1994, India has so far gifted 862 ambulances and 166 school buses to  Nepal.

(Venkatesh Iyer)