Ambassador of Lithuania to India Diana Mickeviciene was welcomed to Calcutta with a reception at the ITC Royal Bengal.
The diplomat is no stranger to Calcutta having frequented the city during her earlier posting in India. She has even authored a chapter on the intrepid traveller and anthropologist Antanas Poska in a book titled A Personal Bond on Lithuanians with India connections.
The occasion of her visit was a decade of the Lithuanian embassy’s journey in Calcutta. “Though I became the honorary consul in 2016, we started work in 2013 when LithuaniaIndia links were explored in a daylong seminar at Calcutta University. We have hosted nearly 30 events and released seven books since then,” said Arvind Sukhani, the honorary consul. The latest title was launched the day before in the city.
“For so long, we have looked at Calcutta as the cultural capital. Now we want to explore business links too,” said the ambassador who met a chamber of commerce on the trip.
The reception saw guests toasting with Alita, a sparkling wine from Lithuania that was flown in by the embassy, before a sumptuous dinner.
The busiest presence at the reception was of Migle Anusauskaite, the cartoonist who had illustrated the comics book First Lithuanian Travellers in India that was launched in both Delhi and Calcutta. The book was there for guests to pick up and on request, they could get an original illustration done by her. Once word got round, Migle had a queue waiting, a copy of the book in each hand. She obliged everyone. But once she got free, she rocked the dance floor.
Ambassador Diana Mickeviciene with Rasa Nayyar, her colleague at the embassy
Anuj Sharma, director general of police, and wife Anupama
Andalib Elias of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission and Imran Zaki