Welcoming Mr Albares at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President said that relations between India and Spain go back centuries, enriched by trade, culture and shared values of democracy and pluralism. She noted that this year is 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, which is being marked by celebrating the ‘India-Spain Dual Year of Culture, Tourism and Artificial Intelligence’.
The President said that India and Spain have a steadily growing economic relationship, with expanding trade and investment. She said that Spain’s strengths in engineering, railways, renewable energy, urban services, and defence aerospace complement India’s development priorities. She expressed confidence that with the signing of India – EU FTA, the trade relationship between the two countries will further be strengthened.
The President said that as strong adherents to multilateralism, India and Spain must work together on multilateral platforms such as the UN and G-20 to further our shared goals of peace, prosperity and stability across the world.
The President underlined that India and Spain have a shared position on countering the menace of terrorism which remains a serious threat to global peace and stability. She said that we must pool our resources and capabilities to together fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
The President said that India’s relationship with Europe and European Union is growing steadily, and that we are looking forward to welcoming the President of European Council and the President of European Commission as Chief Guests for our 77th Republic Day.
