For Swiss Parliament member Nik Gugger, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s recent visit to the Swiss Parliament (Nationalrat) in Berne was more than an official call as it turned out to be an occasion for both to feel at home.
The connection of the 49-year-old Swiss MP, who represented the EVP (Evangelical Party in Switzerland), with Thalassery brought a cosy vibe to the Chief Minister’s visit to Nationalrat.
Mr. Gugger, as president of the Swiss-Indian Parliamentary Group, hosted a lunch for the delegation led by Mr. Vijayan and ensured that Indian curries were part of the menu at the Parliament restaurant.
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The ‘food connection’ of his meeting with the group comprising Swiss Parliament members of all parties could have been in the Chief Minister’s mind when he told a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on May 20 that he had invited Mr. Gugger to the State capital to taste the cuisine of Kerala.
“The Chief Minister’s invitation is a big honour for me and a friendly gesture,” Mr. Gugger told The Hindu, when contacted over the phone.
Informing that he would visit Kerala in July, he said during the lunch he had told Mr. Vijayan about Aggarwal, a food store in Berne that sells Indian food products, including spices.
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“We sat together over lunch and discussed economy, Indian and Kerala tourism, and also about Kerala fish curries and coconut curries,” he noted, adding that the cook in the Parliament restaurant had made special Indian curries for the Chief Minister.
An Indian by birth, Mr. Gugger was adopted by a Swiss couple.
Born at the Basel Mission Hospital at Udupi, he had been brought up as an orphan at what is now the campus of the Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) at Illikkunnu at Thalassery till he was adopted by the Swiss couple. He is the first Indian-origin member in the Swiss Parliament.
“I really enjoyed the lunch and it was the first time that a Kerala meal was served in the Swiss Parliament,” said Sibi George, India’s Ambassador to Switzerland, who accompanied Mr. Vijayan during his visit to Nationalrat.
Talking to The Hindu over the phone, he said Mr. Gugger was making positive contributions in promoting India-Switzerland relationship.