Sugandh Rajaram, the India High Commissioner to Ghana, has graduated with a Master of Philosophy (Geography and Regional Planning) Degree from the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
He graduated as one of the two students, who specialised in that field.
The High Commissioner was among 1,430 postgraduate students who graduated at the fifth session of the school’s 55th congregation.
Describing himself as a ‘proud alumnus,”, he said he got the opportunity to study at “the most prestigious educational institution in Africa”, through the leadership of the university.
Mr Rajaram’s ties with UCC is auspicious to the school’s cooperation with India as the university moves to expand its scope and enhance its international visibility.
In line with the global trend of international strategic collaborations, the leadership of the school, led by Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, the Vice Chancellor, paid a visit to India during which they secured exchange programmes with some universities in that country.
Mr Rajaram noted that having practiced international politics as a diplomat for about 23 years, he wanted to back his experience with geography which was the core of geopolitics.
“It was a good opportunity for me to get associated with this university. I intended to equip myself with additional capabilities in terms of academics and knowledge in the area of public diplomacy.
“My major interest is to see how I can connect diplomacy with the public at large; how we can take diplomacy, international relations and foreign policymaking closer to the people,” he explained.
The High Commissioner expressed his commitment to the strengthening of the India-Ghana cooperation in areas such as research and education, indicating that a number of activities were underway.
“Ghana and India are the leaders of Global South; our South-South cooperation is strengthened further by our efforts as leaders of global South,” Mr Rajaram added.
In all, the school graduated 6,664 students from the first session held on Thursday to the fifth session on Saturday.
Prof Boampong said UCC was collaborating with some institutions across the globe to support its goals of achieving greater visibility.
In his advice to the graduates, he said the ceremony did not mark the end of their studies but the beginning.
He was confident that having gone through UCC, the students had been equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them to contribute their quota to national development.
SOURCE: GNA