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India Focuses on Cooperation during EAM’s Three Nation Tour

External Affairs Minister meets Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria in Sofia (February 16, 2019)
External Affairs Minister meets Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria in Sofia (February 16, 2019)
External Affairs Minister meets Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria in Sofia (February 16, 2019)
External Affairs Minister meets Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria in Sofia (February 16, 2019)

External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, ends the effective four day visit to Bulgaria, Morocco and Spain from 16-19 February 2019 in a bid to strengthen Indian diplomatic relations

Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, concluded a four day visit to Bulgaria, Morocco and Spain on February 19th, 2019. The tour will strengthen India’s diplomatic relationship with these countries while establishing different avenues of cooperation.

The strategically significant three nation tour started with a follow-up visit to the Republic of Bulgaria on February 16th 2019.  In September last year, the State visit of the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind to Bulgaria served as a stepping stone for the current diplomatic exchange. In her maiden visit to Bulgaria, the External Affairs Minister (EAM) met Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ekaterina Zakharieva, and exchanged views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. EAM also paid floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the South Park in Sofia, a statue unveiled by President Kovind along with President of Bulgaria marking 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, last year.

External Affairs Minister calls on Saad Dine El Otmani, Head of Government of Morocco in Rabat (February 18, 2019)
External Affairs Minister calls on Saad Dine El Otmani, Head of Government of Morocco in Rabat (February 18, 2019)

In relation to India’s objective of enhanced engagement with the Kingdom, EAM visited Kingdom of Morocco on February 17th 2019 during the second leg of the tour. Largely seen as significant move after the Pulwama Terrorist Attack last week, India and Morocco agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism. Both countries signed a deal to develop a comprehensive approach to combat cross-border terrorism including terrorist financing and recruitment. While underlining the importance of this deal, EAM said, “India has faced the menace of cross-border terrorism for decades. Therefore, our agreement with friendly nation Morocco signed today (Monday) in fighting terrorism together is important for India.” Apart from this, both countries also signed three different MoUs on areas of cooperation, which includes housing & human settlement, youth matters and reciprocal facilitation of procedures for issue of business visa.

External Affairs Minister addresses Indian Community in Madrid, Spain (February 18, 2019)
External Affairs Minister addresses Indian Community in Madrid, Spain (February 18, 2019)

In the last leg of the tour, EAM arrived in Madrid on Tuesday and met her counterpart, Josep Borrell Fontelles, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation. Sharing an update on the visit, the Official Spokesperson of Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar tweeted: “EAM @SushmaSwaraj is warmly received by Spanish Foreign Minister @JosepBorrellF at the Viana Palace, Minister’s official residence, ahead of the meeting and award ceremony. This is their third meeting in 5 months.” Attending an event organized by Indian Embassy in Spain, she also interacted with the Indian Diaspora.

Among other major events, the Spanish Government conferred the prestigious Grand Cross of Order of Civil Merit to India in recognition of country’s support in evacuation of 71 Spanish nationals though ‘Operation Maitri’ during April 2015 Nepal earthquake. EAM accepted the merit on behalf of India in a ceremony.

Indian External Affairs Ministry, in an official release, said that these visits will strengthen India’s relations with these three countries, expand avenues of cooperation and provide an opportunity discuss regional and global issues of importance.