India and Spain have decided to further strengthen cooperation in the defence sector between the two countries.
During his two-day visit to Spain on January 13-14, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Spain Defence Minister Margarita Robles and noted that the C-295 Aircraft Assembly line plant at Vadodara has been an important project and has taken the defence and security cooperation between the two countries to the next level.
The two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the defence sector.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement issued this morning, said that during his visit, Mr Jaishankar called on King Felipe VI and Spain President Pedro Sanchez.
Both sides expressed satisfaction at regular high-level exchanges and interactions, and agreed to capitalise on the momentum generated by the recent visit of President Sanchez to India to further strengthen bilateral ties.
Mr Jaishankar held a meeting with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation, and regional and global matters of mutual interest.
The two ministers expressed satisfaction over the progress in diverse sectors including trade & economy, defence & security, tourism, culture and people-to-people ties. They also discussed ways of increasing collaboration in new and emerging sectors of digital technology, AI, renewable energy, and space.
The Indian minister also delivered the Keynote Address at the 9th Annual Conference of Spanish Ambassadors on the theme ‘A Foreign Policy with our own Identity’.
Mr Jaishankar together with Foreign Minister Albares, addressed leading Spanish companies, think-tanks, and intelligentsia in a conference organized by the Spain India Council Foundation titled ‘Strategic Alliances for a Changing World: Spain and India in the 21st Century’.
Two MoUs on cooperation in the field of Sports, and cooperation in the field of Sustainable Urban Development were signed between the two sides during the visit.