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On
the eve of the 59th Republic Day of India on 25th
January 2008, a cultural evening followed by Dinner was organized at
Embassy Residence lawns. The function was under the auspices of H.E.
Mr. Anil Wadhwa, Ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman. The
highlight of the cultural evening was an exclusive mesmerizing
recital by two Sarod Maestros Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan,
which lasted for about 1 ½ hours.
During his Address to the gathering, Ambassador Anil Wadhwa
acknowledged the contribution of Bank Muscat in getting the artistes
to Oman. He stated that Bank Muscat is the largest bank in the
Sultanate of Oman with over US$ 10 billion and has a long
association with India. He added that Bank Muscat has a pan-Indian
presence today through its stake in the Centurion Bank of Punjab.
The Bank is planning to set up a Sharia-compliant investment fund
with a corpus of US$ 400 million, which is going to be raised in
Oman and UAE and invested in India. Ambassador Wadhwa expressed his
happiness at the launch a range of NRI services products by Bank
Muscat.
While touching on the relations between India and Oman, Ambassador
Anil Wadhwa underscored the impressive growth in trade and
investment fields highlighting the 43% growth in bilateral trade in
2007. He expressed the hope that given the excellent political
relations that exist between the two countries, and the potential
and the opportunities that the two booming economies promise of,
coming days are going to witness far greater economic engagement
between India and Oman. Ambassador Wadhwa also expressed his wish
to amalgamate cultural and social events in this endeavor.
Ambassador Wadhwa also paid tribute to Aman Ali Khan Bangash and
Ayan Ali Khan Bangash, sons of sarod legend Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,
who are themselves highly acclaimed artistes of international repute
and have to their credit many albums. Ambassador also thanked Mr.
Ashok Suvarna of NPA and his team which had put together the
wonderful arrangements which provided an apt platform for the live
concert.
See photographs |