Finance
President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Lisbon on Sunday for the first leg of her four-day State Visit to Portugal and the Slovak Republic, marking the first such visit in nearly three decades.
The ambassadors of Portugal and India, Joao Ribeiro de Almedia and Puneet R. Kundal, respectively, met the president at the Figo Maduro military airbase.
Her visit coincides with a period of profound economic transformation on a global scale, as trade tariffs recently enforced by the United States are changing the nature of international trade and India’s increasing involvement with Europe.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, traveled to India in February with the College of Commissioners. India has stated that it hopes to complete the free trade agreement with the EU this year.
The 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations is marked by the two-day “landmark” visit to Portugal, which comes 27 years after the last visit by an Indian president.
President Murmu will receive a Guard of Honor on Monday and meet with top officials, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal, and Assembly Speaker Dr. Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
Later, the Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Manuel Felix Moedas will host a special event for President Murmu.
She will also attend a banquet hosted by President Rebelo de Sousa.
“Trade between India and Portugal is valued at USD 1.5 billion, and has been growing steadily, with a 50 per cent increase over the last five years,” said Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, while briefing the press about the visit on Friday.
We are seeing expansion in cooperation across renewable energy, IT, pharmaceuticals, education, tourism, and defence, he said.
He said Portugal had always played a very important role in deepening the India-EU partnership. Lal had said When asked about the possibility of the discussions on India-EU FTA, he said, “Yes, the areas of mutual interest will be discussed.” “In 2000, during the Portuguese Presidency, they hosted the first India-EU Summit. Also, 2021, was the first-ever Leaders’ Summit between India and the EU, where all the leaders from all individual EU partner countries attended this summit. So the India-Portugal relationship has a very strong element of India-EU partnership,” Lal had said.
The President will engage with scholars from a variety of Portuguese institutions as well as members of the Indian community.
There are about 125,000 Indians living in Portugal, comprising 90,000 people of Indian descent and more than 35,000 Indian citizens.
The group, which is dispersed throughout Porto, Lisbon, and the Algarve, has grown to be an essential component of Portugal’s social and economic fabric.
Additionally, the President will present flowers to the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the “Alameda Mahatma Gandhi” (Avenue).
She will attend a community reception before moving to her second leg of the visit to Slovak Republic, from April 9-10, “There are deep connections, especially with Sanskrit studies in Slovakia. Mahatma Gandhi’s works have been translated into Slovak, and Slovakia offered valuable support during the evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine in 2022,” Lal noted.
President Murmu will meet with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Speaker of the National Council Richard Rasi, and President Peter Pellegrini at the delegation level while she is in Slovakia.
The modern Tata Motors Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plant in Nitra, Slovakia, which is a tribute to the close industrial connections between the two countries, will be one of her many stops.
With a 1.4 billion euro investment, the JLR plant was opened in 2018 and can build 150,000 cars a year.
President Murmu will take part in a traditional bread and salt ceremony, an age-old Slovak tradition that represents life and health, as part of her diplomatic journey.
Additionally, the President will interact with Indian community members.
Source: IE
