PANAJI: Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa will arrive in Goa on a two-day visit on January 11 and 12. Mr. Costa will host official banquets, meet Bollywood producers, visit temples, churches, and take some time off to visit his ancestral home in Margao city in south Goa, around 35 km from here.
Sources at the Portuguese Consulate here and the State Protocol Department said on Tuesday that Mr. Costa will arrive in Goa on Tuesday night. The Goa itinerary of the Portugal Prime Minister’s seven-day visit to India was worked out over three months.
“It is a packed programme. He is coming back home. We have spared no efforts to make his visit a success,” said sources in the State Protocol Department. On Wednesday, Mr. Costa will meet Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar at the residence of the Portuguese Consul General, call on Governor Mridula Sinha, and attend a lunch hosted by the State government. He will also visit the Old Goa Church complex, a UNESCO world heritage site built during the colonial era, and the Mangueshi temple. He is scheduled to meet top officials of the National Institute of Oceanography, a Goa-based premier ocean research institute, and attend a civic reception.
Mr. Costa is scheduled to make an address at the newly renovated Adilshah Palace in the city. He will also attend a presentation of the English translation of his father’s book Sem Flores Nem Coares . His father, poet Orlando, was born in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique in 1929, but his family migrated to Goa. Mr. Costa left Goa for Lisbon when he turned 18.
On Thursday, Mr. Costa will visit the Birla Optical Fibre factory in Verna, South Goa. He will then take a stroll down the Latin quarter in Fontainhas and visit the Portuguese cultural organisation, Fundacao Oriente, and inaugurate its Centro de Lingua Portuguesa. In the afternoon, he will go on another walking tour of the city and visit the Salgaoncar Law College at Miramar.
On Thursday night, he will host Bollywood producers at a five-star resort, where he is expected to explore the idea of Portugal as a film-shooting destination. He will also host a reception for Portuguese, Indo-Portuguese communities, and local authorities. He is also expected to visit his ancestral home in Margao and dine with close relatives and friends, according to his first cousin Anna Kaarina Jussilainen. Goa, which was ruled by Portugal, was liberated by the Indian Army in 1961. The Goa State Election Commission authorities have said that the visit will be under the scanner to ensure that nobody uses it for political gain.
Meanwhile, regional parties like the MGP and the Goa Suraksha Manch have demanded an apology from Mr. Costa for atrocities committed by Portuguese colonists. However, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have welcomed Mr. Costa’s visit, saying an apology from a friendly country would be contrary to diplomatic courtesies. In view of the visit, tourists have been requested to defer plans of visiting religious centres in Old Goa and Mangueshi, during the restricted hours on Wednesday. The Old Goa Church Complex will be closed for public between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and the Mangueshi Temple Complex will be closed between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
