High Commission of India
Lilongwe

High Commissioner’s Speech in ITEC Day 2025 Event
09 September 2025

Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs Her Excellency Ms Nancy Tembo (MP), Chief Guest for  today’s event 

Permanent Secretaries and Senior Officials of the Government of Malawi

Distinguished Guests,

Dignitaries,

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Good evening, Namaskar, 

At the outset, let me welcome Her Excellency Ms Nancy Tembo (MP) Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs,  Republic of Malawi to the event.

We are grateful to Hon’ble Minister for taking time from her busy schedule in election campaign  and gracing the occasion as our esteemed Chief Guest today.

I also extend a warm welcome to other distinguished  Permanent Secretaries, senior officials, Director Generals and  our dearest -ITEC Alumni who attended  the ITEC  training programmes in India.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you are kindly aware India always enjoys an excellent, cordial and friendly  relations with the Republic of Malawi since its independence in 1964. India was amongst the few countries in the world  which immediately recognized Malawi as an independent nation and established the diplomatic relations with Malawi. Bilateral relations have been witnessing upward trajectory and it is visible in the recent high-level visit by the Honourable President of India to Malawi in October last year. Both countries are witnessing growth in robust people to people contacts and strong development partnership. 

Today we are gathered here to celebrate the ITEC day. The ITEC program that we are celebrating today is a testimony of India’s commitment towards helping the countries in the  Global South in capacity building and skill development of their human resources.  Under the ITEC programme, India shares its knowledge, domain expertise  and know-how to enhance the capacity building of other developing countries.  Since independence, India always believed in the spirit of self reliance and ‘’Atmnirbharta’’ which can only be achieved through boosting  manufacturing, creation of job opportunities for youth, enhancing skills of young population.  Keeping in mind this philosophy, India stand ready to help our Global south friends through building a strong development partnership which is guided by the host country’s priorities.  Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji firmly believes in  ‘’Develop together as equals’’ spirit. 

As a result of India’s own rapid strides in development in the context of a large democracy, and due to the interactions fostered by ITEC, today there is a visible and growing awareness in the world about competence of India in providing technical know-how, training, skill development, consultancy services, etc.  

ITEC programme was launched in 1964 and has now emerged as an important component of India’s development cooperation. Since its inception, more than 200,000 professionals from more than 160 countries have benefited from it. Today, India provides over 14,000 scholarships for short and medium term courses in more than 100 premier institutions of India.

Over the years, ITEC Programme has received a good response in Malawi and hundreds of Malawian Officials took part in ITEC courses. The ITEC programme  also contributed in boosting people to people  ties and inter-cultural exchanges between India and  Malawi.  

India has offered 150 ITEC slots to Malawi this year and I am confident that our Malawian friends would be able to utilise these slots. I urge the HRD departments and officials in various Ministries and establishments of  Malawi Government to encourage more people to avail this facilities and take maximum advantage of this Scheme which is fully funded by the Government of India.  I don’t want to see the ITEC slots reduced in coming years.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am of the view that  ITEC programme is proved to be useful in Government of Malawi’s Vision 2063  to achieve an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation’ . We all believe that the nation’s youth can play an important role in this drive. Skill up-gradation, specialized training, human resource development are key drivers in its journey for Vision 2063, and these can be usefully facilitated by India’s ITEC program.  Malawi’s journey towards achieving the goals set under Vision 2063 is a futuristic and I am convinced that  India can be a reliable partner of Malawi in achieving these goals through capacity building and skill development.

I also wish to thank the ITEC alumni for being here with us today.  We hope that the training courses that you attended in India have been useful in your professions.

More importantly, I hope the experience that you had in India will connect you as a lifelong friend of India and that you will contribute with your thoughts and efforts towards strengthening India-Malawi relations.  

This celebration is also an effort to bring all of you together. I invite you to interact with us and your fellow ITEC alumni during this event and keep in touch even after this event.

On behalf of the High Commission, I once again thank the Hon’ble Minister of  Foreign Affairs for her gracious presence  which is truly an inspiration to all ITEC alumni. 

Thank you  for your patience  and kind attention and wish you a pleasant evening.

 Jai Hind !