India will be the largest participant at Expo 2020 Dubai: Envoy

India would have the largest participation at the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai, reflecting bilateral ties, strength, said Pavan Kapoor, Indian Ambassador to the UAE.

“It is very clear that by sheer dint of our proportion of the population, by our connections that we’ve in India, we’ll be the largest participant at the Dubai Expo”, Kapoor said during his address on the occasion of the 75th Indian Independence Day, which is being celebrated on Sunday.

The ambassador said that “wonderful success stories” of Indians in the UAE, initiatives and plans would be showcased at the Indian Pavilion. He added that there would be the participation of students in various cultural events for a “greater sense of involvement” of the Indian community with the Expo.

On November 4 India would celebrate their traditional festival Diwali(festival of lights) in colourful ways, This time Expo 2020 also would enjoy this festival.

“Diwali will clearly be celebrated in a big way by the Expo authorities. We’ll add to it in our own way to make it even more spectacular,” he said.

Kapoor revealed that a lot of service staff for the Expo would come from India and hoped that the UAE would start issuing visit visas by September.

“It just tells you about the strength of our relations, the importance of our community, not just for those living and working here, but even those in India, how important the Indian population is for the functioning of this country. And that is something, which is well appreciated by the UAE authorities,” he said.

Kapoor said that bilateral relations are growing, and India focuses a lot on trade and economy and pushes for exports “in a big way”.

“We’ve launched a new programme where we want to push for exports from India in a very big way. And the UAE is such an important recipient of exports from India, the third-largest trading partner for India, will be key to the success of our programme,” the ambassador added.