External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has met the
top leadership of Portugal, including Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and
discussed ways to bolster Bharat’s relations with the key southern European
nation in areas such as defence, trade, investment, tourism and direct air
connectivity.
Jaishankar said the two nations reviewed the
implementation of the “agreement of the recruitment of Indian citizens to work
in Portugal” and that they agreed on a standard operating procedure for that. “There
will be a pilot project to take it forward,” he said.
Stating that Bharat has always regarded Portugal as
one of its key partners in the European Union (EU), Jaishankar said, “We look
forward to marking in 2025 the establishment of 50 years, re-establishment of
our diplomatic relations.”
“We see a lot of new energy and activities across
several sectors. Trade and investment is clearly a strong driving force. Indian
companies like Indian IT companies, especially, have made their mark in
Portugal,” Jaishankar said as part of the joint press statement with Portugal’s
foreign minister Joao Cravinho on Tuesday.
Jaishankar arrived here on the first leg of his
four-day visit to Portugal and Italy with an aim to further bolster Bharat’s
bilateral ties with the two key European nations.
Jaishankar said the Joint Economic Committee would be
asked to follow up on some of the discussions that the two leaders had and “see
what more we could be done in health, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy.”
“We also discussed defence cooperation, start-ups,
innovation as well. There was some talk between us on direct air connectivity
because that is today a missing piece in the relationship,” he said, adding, “We’re
very confident that our exchanges would expand once we can make progress on
that. And both of us put a lot of weight on the development of tourism, and
that too would grow with direct air connectivity.”
“Pleasure to meet Prime Minister @antoniocostapm today
(Tuesday). Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Discussed
contemporary challenges and appreciated his guidance for the further
development of our ties (sic),” Jaishankar said in a post on X along with a
photo of the meeting.
Appreciating Portugal’s support for India-European
Union ties, Jaishankar also met Augusto Santos Silva, the President of the
Assembly of the Portuguese Republic.
“Delighted to meet @ASantosSilvaPAR, President of the
Assembly of the Portuguese Republic. Have always valued his strong support for
our bilateral ties. Discussed the importance of our two democracies cooperating
closely in a volatile world,” Jaishankar said in another post on X.
Jaishankar also said he is happy to see that Amul,
which is India’s main milk and dairy company, is the first Indian regional
sponsor of the Portuguese National Football team.
He also said the two sides discussed the maritime
heritage complex in Lothal (in Gujarat), which Bharat is developing in
collaboration with Portugal.
Jaishankar attended some diaspora engagements and paid
floral tributes at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba, in
front of the Temple Radha Krishna in Lisbon.
From Portugal, Jaishankar will travel to Italy where
he will meet his counterpart Antonio Tajani, Minister of Defence and Minister
for ‘Made in Italy’.
PTI
