Bharatiya envoy Sandeep Chakravorty presented credentials to the President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, on December 20.
“Dili2Delhi, presented credentials to H.E. Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste,” Chakravorty posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“The President has a fine sense of humour & narrated a true Dili-Delhi story, which I share,” he added.
“For the independence day celebrations of Timor-Leste in 2002, a particular foreign minister arrived a few days late. When asked the reason, he explained that his staff had booked him to Delhi instead of Dili (capital of Timor-Leste), as they are similar-sounding homonyms,” he wrote on X.
“Once he landed in Delhi, he saw many Indians and was impressed by the Indian presence in Dili. He thought to himself that they must be UN personnel from India,” the envoy said.
Last month, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with his Timor-Leste counterpart Rear Admiral Donaciano Do Rosario da Costa Gomes in Jakarta and reaffirmed Bharat’s support for the development needs of the country.
The two ministers also discussed potential areas for future collaboration, including the supply of made-in-India defence equipment, capacity building and training, according to the Bharatiya Ministry of Defence (MoD) press statement.
The Timorese counterpart welcomed Bharat’s decision to open an Embassy in Timor-Leste also known as East Timor and offered his Ministry’s support. He also thanked Singh for Bharat’s support to Timor-Leste’s efforts to become a full member of ASEAN.
ANI
