(L-R) Consul-general of Ireland M.K. Jalan; ambassador of Ireland to India Kenneth Thompson; Raj Pal Singh Kahlon, principal secretary of fisheries; and ambassador of France to India Jerome Bonnafont

Rajat Dalmia and Karan Paul

Neha Jalan, Sandeep Vyas and his wife Sanaya

Cocktails and dinner marked the inauguration of the Consulate of Ireland in Calcutta. M.K. Jalan, ex-consul general of France, officially took the post of consul-general of Ireland on October 5 at The Oberoi Grand. Seen at the do were Soumitra Chatterjee, Mona Lamba (of the Monapali duo), Tanushree Shankar, Arjun and Nilaanjana Chakraborty, Sanjay Budhia, Sundeep Bhutoria, Sandeep Vyas with wife Sanaya and Anindita Sarbadhicary who lined up to offer their best wishes to Jalan. “It feels great to be given this opportunity. I have done my best for France and now Ireland can forge its ties with India, most importantly West Bengal, which already has an NGO connection with the country. We want Indians to build ties on the industrial and technological front as well,” said Jalan.

Pictures by Rashbehari Das