'Very Proud Of My Roots In Goa': European Council Chief Shows His OCI Card

New Delhi: President of the European Council, António Luís Santos da Costa, on Tuesday said he is very proud of his Indian roots. He said his father's family hails from Goa and the Europe-India connection is "something personal" to him.

Addressing a joint press meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the signing of the India-EU FTA in New Delhi, Costa showed his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card saying he is from Goa. His act drew a loud round of applause from PM Modi and the other dignitaries.

Highlighting his Indian roots, Costa said, "I'm the President of the European Council, but I'm also an overseas Indian citizen. Then, as you can imagine, for me it has a special meaning. I'm very proud of my roots in Goa, where my father's family came from, and the connection between Europe and India is something personal to me."

"Thank you, dear Prime Minister, Modi, for welcoming us on this special occasion. We were privileged yesterday to be your chief guests for the Republic Day celebrations. Such an impressive display of India's capabilities and diversity. Today is a historic moment. We are opening a new chapter in our relations on trade, on security, and on people-to-people ties," he further said.

Costa, a Portuguese socialist leader and former Prime Minister of Portugal, was born in Lisbon in July 1961 to Portuguese-French mother and a Goan father. His father, Orlando António Fernandes da Costa's family hailed from Goa's Margao. Orlando António Fernandes da Costa, a Portuguese writer, left Goa when he was 18 and was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party. Costa has an ancestral house on Abade Faria Road on Margao, where his relatives still live. In 2017, he went to Goa on a personal trip and visited that house.

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