Under the aegis of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), a delegation of 38 gifted youth leaders from eight countries visited North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) this morning with a purpose of mutual learning and interaction with faculty and students.
NEHU’s Office of International Affairs held a meeting and interaction to felicitate the foreign delegates, who have come from Chile, Kenya, Ecuador, Mexico, Suriname, New Zealand, Nigeria and Switzerland. They came to NEHU as part of a mission called ‘NextGen Democracy’ to share their experience of democratic processes and struggles in their respective countries with the NEHU fraternity.
The dignitaries included Suriname MP Kanafe Josafat Obed, who represents African-origin people in the Suriname parliament and expressed his pleasure at NEHU’s hospitality and the level of discussion.
Another prominent public figure included Norbert Andrew Ouma of Kenya, who is a grassroots politician who shared his rich experience of being a footballer and a grassroots-level party worker. Chile’s Maite Estay, who is the spokesperson of the Chilean Confederation of Students, showed her solidarity and empathy for women’s roles in public life in a democracy as well as in leading the university in research and studies.
In a similar vein, Aryana Nafissi, a prominent opposition leader and tax consultant from New Zealand, expressed her deep interest in India’s democratic processes and exhorted NEHU in making rapid strides in understanding the global democratic scenario.
NEHU was represented at the event by Vice-Chancellor Prof PS Shukla and professors Erwa Jyrwa, Lucy Zehol, Vanlalnghak, AK Chandra, N Saha, Iftekar Hussain, Debendra K Nayak and Don Syiem.
The visiting team left for Mawsynram and Sohra after completing their visit to NEHU.
