Goa has for centuries shared relations with Africa. Till the 18th Century, Goa was the capital of the Eastern Portuguese Empire that stretched from Africa to East Asia. After the colonial rule ended in Goa, the bond with Africa weakened, although the ties seem to be on a revival again. A few days ago Mali’s Ambassador Niankoro Yeah Samake visited Goa to discuss a proposal for making Panjim the sister city of Gao (Mali, Africa). Sister cities is a new concept for Goa.
The Ambassador of Mali along with Mayor of Gao met with Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Mayor Surendra Furtado to discuss the proposal. “He is returning with the mayor of the city to discuss this and to sign the treaty. He also said that anybody interested in iron ore mining in Mali will get licenses within 72 hours,” Furtado said in a report.
Furtado further stated that CCP might also help the Malian government in their efforts to solve the solid waste management problems. “Solid waste management woes. “We have given them information about our segregation of solid waste,” he was quoted in a report.
What is a sister city?
The concept is a tie up between two culturally and politically distinct cities either from the same countries or two different countries to promote cultural and commercial relations amongst them. One city can have more than one sister city. For example, Chicago, a city in the United States of America has 28 sister cities. Similarly India too has a number of cities that have a similar partnerships.
Indian cities & Union territories having sister cities:
Delhi has two sister cities
- Chicago, Illinois (United States of America)
- Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
Diu
- Loures, Grande Lisboa (Portugal)
Daman
- Coimbra, Baixo (Portugal)
Bengaluru has three sister cities
- Chengdu, Sichuan, (China)
- Cleveland, Ohio (United States of America)
- San Francisco, California (United States of America)
Ahmedabad has two sister cities
- Columbus, Ohio (United States of America)
- Jersey City, New Jersey (United States of America)
Bhubaneswar
- Cupertino, California (United States of America)
- Cuttack, Odisha (India)
Chennai
- Denver, Colorado (United States of America)
- San Antonio, Texas (United States of America)
Cuttack
- Bhubaneswar, Odisha (India)
Having a culturally distinct city for a sister city is a good opportunity for Panaji to learn more about Malian culture and a chance to boost commercial ties with the nation.
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