Yesterday two of Ghana's very good friends, India and Pakistan celebrated 60 years of independence from Britain. Ghana herself is in her Golden Jubilee Year, having broken her colonial ties to Britain on March 6 1957.

India and Pakistan have kept faith with us as former colonies of Britain and members of the Commonwealth.

India in particular has extended a helping hand in many spheres to Ghana - science, technology, military training, cinematography training and many others. Indeed, our presidential office complex currently under construction is with a generous grant from the Indian government.

Both India and Pakistan have maintained active diplomatic engagements with Ghana over the years. Ghana's founding President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and India's founding Prime Minister, Jawahral Nehru were founding fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement at a time when the world was polarized between the USSR and USA - the era of the Cold War.

We have all moved on since breaking away from the shackles of British colonialism; we have fared differently. India and Pakistan are nuclear powers whilst Ghana is still trying to attain mid-income status.

As we move farther and farther from our colonial past, the world also continues to shrink with new realities like globalization, terrorism, climate change and dwindling energy resources.

The interests are therefore more common now than ever.

On this occasion of India and Pakistan's 60th Anniversary and Ghana's 50th, we wish to say Ayeekooo and may our relations grow ever stronger.