ITEC Day at the Embassy of India

The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Program (ITEC) is a bilateral assistance program run by the Government of India. Held every year since 1964, ITEC Day has recently been celebrated at the Embassy of India in Budapest.

According a report by the Embassy, the Hungarian Minister of State for Cultural and Science Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, István Ijgyártó was the chief guest on the occasion.

In his inaugural address, Ambassador Rahul Chhabra, gave an overview of the ITEC program, stressing that it was an important pillar of bilateral cooperation with Hungary. Ambassador added that apart from training courses, The ITEC program offers expertise in several other areas such as feasibility studies, projects, a deputation of experts abroad, which could also be explored to enhance further collaboration with Hungary.

The Chief Guest, H.E. Mr. Istvan Ijgyarto, mentioned that India and Hungary shared an excellent bilateral relationship, encompassing diverse areas. He referred to increased Indian investments in Hungary and the scholarship scheme, which would further enhance bilateral cooperation.

The speeches were followed by the launch of a music CD (Dil Mastana) of Ms. Judit Ábrahám, who is a well-known Rajasthani dancer. After the CD launch Mr. Vijay Khanduja, Counsellor of Embassy of India introduced the mobile application of Embassy of India, which will be available in Google play store as well as in Apple store very soon.

This was followed by presentations of three ITEC participants - Ms. Edit and Mr. György Iván Neszmélyi, who participated in PCFD (Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats in Foreign Service Institute) course in 1998 and Dr. Éva Veronika Lõrincz, who took participation in Entrepreneurship Education to Strengthen Emerging Economies course at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India in 2017. They offered positive insights into the training programmes, and also spoke about the wonderful facilities offered by the Government of India and how much they enjoyed their studies in India.

After these Ms. Sumedha Bhattacharya, Kathak dancer presented two wonderful compositions of dance performance, which was followed by a short raga, performed by Pt. Rajesh K. Gangani, teacher cum performer at the Amrita Sher-Gil Cultural Centre and dr. György Molnár, a student of Pt. Gangani, who played on Surbahar. The amazing music performance was followed by a dinner reception. Around 70 people attended the ITEC Day celebrations, which included ITEC and ICCR alumni, prominent members of the Ministries,Journalists, Professors of  Universities and members of the Embassy.