Staff Reporter
Windhoek
Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi was in India last week, where he met Indian President Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the speakers of both the lower and upper houses of parliament, Simitra Mahajan and Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari, who is also India’s vice president.
Katjavivi stopped over in India on his way to the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Bangladesh that took place from April 1 to 5. Katjavivi stopped in India on invitation from that country’s parliament to look at issues of mutual interest, among them support for capacity building for parliamentary staff and parliamentarians.
“In separate meetings with the Indian leaders they all expressed their willingness to assist the Namibian parliament and further cement the already existing bilateral relations between the two countries,” read a statement issued by Katjavivi’s office.
“To that effect, a joint parliamentary working group dedicated to identifying issues of mutual interest was proposed during the meeting. India has also been offering studies to Namibian parliament staff through its bureau for parliamentary studies,” the statement said.
Speaker of the lower house Mahajan congratulated Namibia on its achievements since independence and was fascinated by the work of the Namibian parliament, particularly the children’s parliament, which she feels is inculcating democratic values in the minds of the youth.
She also commended Namibia for its high representation of women in parliament.
Speaker Katjavivi and his delegation, which observed proceedings in both houses of parliament, further paid homage to India’s pre-eminent leader, Mahatma Gandhi, by laying a wreath at his memorial site.