Young Dominican political leaders visit India under the ICCR’s GenNext Democracy Network program

New Delhi- A group of young political leaders from the Dominican Republic visited India from the 10th to the 19th October 2022, to participate in the GenNext Democracy Network program, organized and funded by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

The three participants in this exchange were congressman Luis Baéz, the Strategic Communication Advisor to the Social Cabinet of the Presidency, Roselvis Vargas, and the leader of the Democratic Option party, Natalia Mármol.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations launched the Gen Next Democracy Network program in early 2022 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's independence. Its objective is to introduce young leaders from around the world to the institutions of the Indian political system, as well as to the history and the culture of the country.  

Upon their arrival to India, the Dominican representatives held a meeting with the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the Republic of India, H.E. David Puig, with whom they had an exchange about the scope of the program and the state of the bilateral relations between India and the Dominican Republic.

Ambassador Puig pointed out that "the Dominican Republic was included in the Gen Next Democracy Network initiative at the request of the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in India." He also highlighted the importance of this type of exchange, as they contribute to "increase the mutual understanding between India and the Dominican Republic, and to promote the exchanges of good practices and experiences between two nations that share similar democratic values and institutions."

In addition to the Dominican group, representatives of Germany, Colombia, Panama, and Senegal participated in this edition of the program. During the nine-day exchange, they had the opportunity to interact with Indian civil servants, politicians, university chancellors, and intellectuals. In New Delhi, they visited the Indian Parliament and the Electoral Commission of India, amongst other institutions.  The program also comprised programs in the cities of Agra, Amritsar, Chandigarh, and Shimla.