‘gora sikH’ entHrals punJab
Norway’s ambassador Nils Ragnar Kamsvag loves moving around India to understand people. He instantly clicked with villagers when he visited two villages, Panwa and Bhattiwal, in Sangrur (Punjab) along with local Congress MLA Vijay Inder Singla some days ago. The envoy wore a pink turban. The villagers lovingly dubbed him as “Gora Clean Shaven Sikh.” Kamsvag discussed with farmers their problems and offered to explore the investment possibilities in Punjab. He told The Sunday Guardian that Punjab farmers were very hard-working. “If guided properly, they can do wonders.” The farmers talked about rising number of suicides, shortage of money to purchase new agriculture equipment, over use of pesticides and their ill-effects, over-exploitation of groundwater for farming, and air pollution caused by stubble burning. Singla acted as a translator. After visiting other parts of Punjab, Kamsvag met Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh. He discussed investment opportunities in food processing, fishing, renewable energy and oil and gas. The envoy was accompanied by his Second Secretary Erlend Draget and Advisor Undis V. Singh.