National Day of St. Lucia: EAM Jaishankar extends greetings; calls to strengthen ties

On the occasion of the National Day of St. Lucia, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on December 13 extended his greetings to the Caribbean country. Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar conveyed his “best wishes” to Foreign Minister Sarah Flood-Beaubrun and the people of St Lucia. He even added that he is looking forward to further strengthening the “close cooperation” between the two nations. 

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St Lucia’s Day 

St Lucia’s Day is a festival of lights in Sweden, Norway and the Swedish-speaking areas of Finland which is celebrated on December 13 in honour of St Lucia or St Lucy. The day is widely celebrated and is viewed as a precursor of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ in the calendar on Christmas Day. In Saint Lucia, which is a small nation in the Caribbean, the National Festival of Lights and Renewal is held the night before the holiday, in honour of St. Lucy of Syracuse the saint of light. 

The festival begins with a procession led by the St Lucia designee, who is followed by young girls dressed in white and wearing lwreaths on their heads and boys dressed in white pyjama-like costume singing traditional songs. The festival marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Scandinavia. It is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year. 

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