India's new High Commissioner to Sri Lanka presents credentials through video conferencing

Gopal Baglay, the new High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, on Thursday presented his credentials to President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa during a ceremony held here through video-conferencing, a first of its kind conducted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Baglay presented his credentials along with the newly appointed ambassadors of Iran and Brazil during the online ceremony, President Rajapaksa's office said.

"This is the first time in Sri Lanka. Instead of postponing the acceptance of credentials in view of the pandemic, President Rajapaksa wanted the ceremony to be conducted electronically," Rajapaksa's office said in a statement.

The Indian High Commission thanked the office of the Sri Lankan President and praised the use of technology for such affairs.

The High Commissioner thanked President Rajapaksa for arranging the traditional ceremony in an innovative manner and stated that the use of technology to overcome challenges, such as those posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement by the Indian mission.

High Commissioner Baglay recalled that as Sri Lanka's closest maritime neighbour, India has been the first responder when Sri Lanka faced difficulties, be it natural calamities, or the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

India has sent four consignments of essential life-saving medicines and medical material weighing over 25 tonnes to Sri Lanka in the last few weeks as goodwill support from the people of India.

Sri Lanka has so far reported 916 cases of COVID-19 with 9 deaths.

The deadly coronavirus has caused havoc worldwide by infecting 4,379,973 and claiming the lives of 2,98,185, according to Johns Hopkins University.