From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Former Union Minister of State and Shillong MP, Vincent H Pala, on Friday left for a fortnight-long official tour to Europe, China and the United States.
While in Europe, Pala will be attending some official meetings and is also slated to meet a well known Archbishop, his well wisher, at Rome.
In the US, the MP will take part in the 12-day ‘India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programme’ to be organised by the renowned Yale University.
The programme, to be held mid-June, is held annually recognizing that the complexity and demands of geo-political and economic affairs during the 21st century which requires governments at all levels to have inspired leaders. Yale has sought to engage the rising leadership of the world’s most consequential countries through leadership development programmes in the United States, an official statement said.
Lectures, discussions, and private meetings with renowned practitioners in their areas will complement the curricular activities of the Yale programme. Faculty for the programme are drawn from experts at Yale, as well as research institutes, government offices, and the private sector.
Interestingly, participants at such programmes have to attend the entire schedule and cannot leave in between.
Pala will also participate in the first China-South Asia Expo to be held from June 6 to 10 in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province, China. The Expo aims at promoting China-South Asia cooperation and development, and of sharing mutual benefits and harmonious development.
“The Expo will be an event integrating commodity trade, service trade, investment cooperation, tourism cooperation and cultural exchanges and has special significance to our region,” Pala told The Shillong Times before his departure on Friday.
“China and South Asian countries share a long-standing relationship and traditional friendship between our people,” Pala said. In recent years, China and South Asian countries including India have seen economic and trade relations developing rapidly, he added.