Chandrikapersad Santokhi (pic via Twitter)The newly elected President of Suriname Chandrikapersad Santokhi is winning the hearts of Indians on social media for all the right reasons.
The newly elected supremo of the South American nation took the oath of office in Sanskrit while holding Vedas in his hand during the inauguration ceremony on 16 July. He also repeated the Sanskrit verses chanted by the priest during the ceremony.
Indian origin Santokhi replaced the military strongman Desi Bouterse to win the election. A former Justice Minister, Santokhi of the Progressive Reform Party (PRP) was elected unopposed.
Notably, Suriname is a former Dutch colony where people of Indian descent make up the largest ethnic group comprising 27.4 per cent of the population of 587,000.
Addressing his monthly Mann Ki Baat programme earlier today, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi also congratulated the newly elected president.
"India has a very close relationship with 'Suriname'. More than a hundred years ago, people from India went there, and made it their home. Today, the fourth or fifth generation is there. Today in Suriname more than one-fourth of the people are of Indian origin. Do you know? 'Sarnami' one of the common languages there is a dialect of Bhojpuri. We Indians feel very proud of these cultural relations," he said.
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