VISIT SOMALILAND 🇮🇱🇺🇸🇦🇪🤝

Somaliland is not Somalia. That’s a fact. I have no aversion to Somalia but I am for Somaliland and its independent sovereignty.

People often ask me why I am so mentally, emotionally and physically invested in Somaliland. The answer lies in a family, a legacy and a promise I intend to honour. The Sood family’s relationship with Somaliland dates back to 1958. It is a relationship that began with the grandfather, was carried forward by his son, Virendra Kumar Sood, and now lives on through the third generation, Vikram Sood. For decades, Virendra Kumar Sood believed in Somaliland, its people, its potential and its rightful aspirations. He worked tirelessly towards a dream he held close to his heart: that India would one day recognise Somaliland’s sovereignty and play a vital and integral role in its transformation. In a poignant twist of destiny, he departed for his heavenly abode just hours before Israel recognised Somaliland as a sovereign nation. He had dedicated much of his life to a dream whose realisation he would not live to witness. To me, Virendra Kumar Sood was a visionary. He saw a diamond in the rough when others saw little worth pursuing. He recognised Somaliland’s potential long before much of the world began paying attention. His son, Vikram Sood, is family to me. And family is not merely about relationships; it is about standing by one another, honouring commitments and carrying forward the dreams of those who came before us. Today, my involvement in Somaliland is not merely geopolitical, strategic or commercial. It is deeply personal. I am standing beside Vikram to help fulfil his father’s lifelong dream of seeing Somaliland emerge as the nation he always believed it could become, with India playing a meaningful role in that journey. Three generations of the Sood family have carried this relationship with Somaliland. I consider it both an honour and a responsibility to stand alongside the third generation in carrying that legacy forward. That is why Somaliland matters so deeply to me. For me, Somaliland is not merely a strategic interest. It is a promise to a family, a tribute to a visionary and a commitment to a people whose future he believed in long before the world took notice.