Celebrating 75 years of Luxembourg – India friendship and launch of Postal stamp by POST Luxembourg and India Post

On 14 March 2023, the Luxembourg Ambassador to India, H.E. Mrs. Peggy Frantzen hosted a reception at the Amar Nath Sehgal Private Collection in New Delhi on the occasion of a joint stamp release by POST Luxembourg & India Post to commemorate 75 years of Luxembourg-India friendship. The diplomatic relations between Luxembourg and India were indeed established in 1948.

The stamps released are in memory of Mr. Amar Nath Sehgal, the talented Indian modernist artist who had chosen the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as a second home for a quarter of a century.

In New Delhi, the stamp from India Post was released by the Hon’ble Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs & Culture, Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi and the Hon’ble MoS for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, in presence of the Chief Postmaster General (Delhi Circle), Mrs. Manju Kumar and the Luxembourg Ambassador, H.E. Mrs. Frantzen.

Left to Right : Release of stamp by the Luxembourg Ambassador, H.E. Mrs. Peggy Frantzen; the Hon'ble MoS for Communications of Government of India, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, the Hon'ble MoS for External Affairs and Culture of Government of India, Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi and the Chief Postmaster General (Delhi Circle), Mrs. Manju Kumar.

 Virtual Address by the Hon'ble Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, Mr. Jean Asselborn.

Address by the Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of Government of India, Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi.

Address by the Minister of State for Communications of Government of India, Shri Devusinh Chauhan.

In his virtual address, the Luxembourg Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean Asselborn welcomed the joint stamp release commemorating 75 years of friendship between Luxembourg and India. The Minister highlighted that the potential of developing bilateral ties between the two countries in sectors such as Space, Green and Sustainable finance, ICT, Digitalisation and Health technologies was very important. Mr. Asselborn also hoped that the EU and India would finalise, in a not too distant future, the negotiations for an ambitious and a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which could also lead to growth in the bilateral trade between Luxembourg and India.

The Minister of State for External Affairs, Mrs. Meenakshi Lekhi mentioned, in her address, having been personally invested in the launch of commemorative stamps in memory of Mr. Amar Nath Sehgal. She commended Mr. Amar Nath Sehgal’s personal contribution in the India-Luxembourg friendship, best symbolized by the “Friends’” sculpture. Mrs. Lekhi also highlighted the strong Luxembourg-India economic relations, highlighting that Luxembourg was the 5th largest Foreign Direct Investor in India among the EU countries and 15th largest globally, contributing to India’s story of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

The Minister of State for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, in his address, noted the significant growth in bilateral cooperation between Luxembourg and India over the years and especially in the area of trade, investment & technology. Mr. Chauhan said that the joint release of postal stamps would help further deepening and strengthening the already strong relations between the two countries. He added that late Mr. Sehgal had contributed significantly in building people-to-people ties between India and Luxembourg.

Release of Stamp in Luxembourg in the presence of Mr. Mario Treinen, Director at POST Courrier, Mr. Emile Espen, Head of POST Philately at POST Luxembourg, Mrs. Veronique Dockendorf, Political Director at the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Brussels, Mr. Debasish Prusty, Mr. Raman Sehgal the son of late Amar Nath Sehgal and Mrs. Anne Mélan, the designer of the Luxembourg stamp.

Simultanously, an event in Lxuembourg City, saw the release of the stamp from POST Luxembourg, in the presence of Mr. Mario Treinen, Director at POST Courrier, Mr. Emile Espen, Head of POST Philately at POST Luxembourg, Mrs. Veronique Dockendorf, Political Director at the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Brussels, Mr. Debasish Prusty, Mr. Raman Sehgal, the son of late Amar Nath Sehgal who lives in Luxembourg, along with his spouse and lastly, Mrs. Anne Mélan, the designer of the Luxembourg stamp.

The Luxembourg Ambassador stated that there was no other person who could symbolize 75 years of Luxembourg – India friendship better than late Amar Nath Sehgal, whose 100th birth anniversary was celebrated in 2022. He was a humanist, an innovator and a creative mind, who left us with a formidable treasure of artworks reflecting the whole spectrum of human experiences and emotions.

The stamp launched by India Post to commemorate 75 years of Luxembourg-India friendship.

Performance by musicians Maestro Saskia Rao de Haas (left) and Pandit Shubhendra Rao during the joint stamp release event in New Delhi.

Left to Right: The Curator of AmarNath Sehgal Collection, Mrs. Mandira Row; the Joint Secrretary (Europe West), Mr. Sandeep Chakraborty and the Founder Director of Amar Nath Sehgal Museum and the son of late Amar Nath Sehgal, Mr. Rajan Sehgal during the joint stamp release event in New Delhi.

This occasion in New Delhi also saw the performance of a wonderful composition “Form and Music”, by renowned musicians Pandit Shubhendra Rao and Maestro Saskia Rao de Haas, especially composed for this event, on the life and work of Amar Nath Sehgal and the Luxembourg-India relations. The musicians not only composed “Form and Music”, but also two tracks which can be played as background music at the Amar Nath Sehgal Private Collection, adding another artistic dimension to this magical place and allowing a better immersion in the talented artist’s work.

A number of dignitaries including from the Indian Govt., Diplomatic Corps, Arts & Culture, Business and Media were present at the event.