India and Spain, which signed a defence contract as part of which Airbus Spain will supply 56 C295 aircraft to India, today decided to further deepen defence and security cooperation.

During a meeting between Spain Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed Spain’s interest in participating in India’s national defence manufacturing programme through Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Notably, 40 of the 56 Airbus Spain aircraft will be Made in India.

The two ministers reiterated their commitment to closely work in countering common challenges related to terrorism, violent extremism and cyber-crime.

They reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relationships and committed to adding new depth and content to it.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said there were detailed discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in the key priority areas of trade and investments, people-to-people relationships, climate cooperation, green energy, science & technology, innovation and defence & security.

They stressed the need for regular meetings of bilateral institutional mechanisms and early finalization of MoUs/Agreements under negotiation in various sectors. During the meeting, the Ministers signed the Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in Cultural and Academic fields.

They welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment linkages and agreed to expand them in new areas of common interest. They noted with satisfaction that the bilateral trade has resurged beyond pre-Covid levels and there is significant potential to grow even further.

They agreed that there are more opportunities in sectors like IT, Pharma and renewable and there are new and unexplored emerging areas like green hydrogen, electric mobility, advanced materials, and deep-sea exploration where the two countries can collaborate further.

The two ministers also exchanged views on a number of regional and global issues of mutual interest and noted the mutual understanding and support in addressing common challenges like climate change, global health, sustainable development and counter-terrorism.

They welcomed the restart of India-EU FTA negotiations later this month. On Ukraine, the two ministers expressed their concern over the ongoing humanitarian crisis and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

On Afghanistan, both sides highlighted the need for Afghanistan to have unhindered access to humanitarian assistance and that Afghan territory is not used by terror outfits for destabilising the region.

They emphasised the need to retain a strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific region and to promote collaborative efforts among like-minded nations. They agreed to explore collaboration in development partnerships and economic activities in the LAC region and in this context discussed Ibero-American Conference.