More than 300 artistes presented cultural performances highlighting the diversity and unity of India at an event hosted Friday to celebrate the 68th Republic Day by the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) under the aegis of Indian embassy.

A large number of community members were present at the event, which had Indian ambassador P Kumaran as the chief guest. Ooredoo's senior director for consumer sales Khalid al-Hammadi was the guest of honour. ICC president Milan Arun, general secretary Juttas Paul, and other office-bearers as well as officials of other apex bodies under Indian embassy and affiliated organisations under ICC were also present at the event.
There was a formal function before the start of the cultural programmes and Indian envoy highlighted the composite culture of India while addressing the gathering.
“One crown jewel that we have preserved over the past years is the fact that we are an extremely diverse country -- something that we have managed to preserve and enrich since we became independent. Our composite culture that represents our diversity is something represented at every cultural event that we organise and today’s event is yet another example of our diversity.”
“We have come a long way since India became independent in 1947.We have made so many achievements that deserve celebrations. Today, we have come a long way as we are the fourth largest economy in purchasing power parity terms. We have an education system that is the envy of so many countries. Our IT professionals are all over the world both in developing and developed countries and are in high demand,” he added.
He also congratulated Dr R Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank for winning the Pravasi Bharathiya Samman Award 2016. During the event, the Indian community honoured Dr Seetharaman. His wife Sangeetha Seetharaman accepted a memento on his behalf.
Al-Hammadi highlighted the role of Indians in developing Qatar and maintained that Ooredoo has always associated with the Indian community and in its activities.
Milan Arun explained the activities of ICC and how ICC was established some 24 years ago with the effort of the community members. Juttas Paul presented a report of the ICC for the past year. The outgoing office-bearers of ICC were also honoured during the event.
Students of Indian schools as well as members of the affiliate bodies under ICC presented various programmes on the occasion.The cultural programmes consisted of music, dances as well as other cultural arts. Over 50 choreographers were involved in preparing the performances which were received with resounding applause by the audience.
During the event a souvenir highlighting the activities of ICC was released. Gulf Times was the media partner of the event.

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