the goan I network
PANAJI
The Goa Cabinet which met on Monday approved a signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Hawaii and Goa as a sister-state relationship.
A similar decision was approved by the Cabinet under then chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar back in March 2016.
The decision paves way for the signing of a ‘sister-state’ agreement between Goa and Hawaii to cooperate on a wide range of fields for the betterment of both States.
“This issue was on for nearly two-and-half years when I was Defence Minister... I was in touch, I even went to the Pacific command. The Congresswoman is attracted to Indian culture. She had moved a proposal and the local government has supported. Now with the MEA approval and all the other approvals, we will sign the MoU”, Parrikar said.
Of his visit, Parrikar said he was “surprised to see that it looks exactly like Goa.”
“If someone is taken there and he wakes up in the morning not knowing where he is, he will think that he is in Goa,” Parrikar said.
“Food habits are also like Goa -- fish, rice coconut. Hawaii looks like Goa and wants to share a sister-state relationship,” he added.
The memorandum of association has been prompted by a visit of Tulsi Gabbard, an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who has been the United States Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district since 2013 who on separate occasions met Parrikar and Parsekar and discussed several issues.
Tulsi is an American Samoan by ethnicity although a practising Hindu having picked it up from her mother who though being of European origin, was a practising Hindu.
The Goa government has appointed the Directorate of Art and Culture to be the nodal agency to liaise with the regional government of Hawaii.
