EAM Jaishankar meets Spain Foreign Minister, strengthens India-EU relationship

Madrid [Spain], January 14 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and called for greater cooperation between India and Spain to broaden the relationship between India and the European Union.
The EAM said that India and Spain signed two agreements- one in the field of sports, and the other in sustainable development.
"We have signed two agreements- one in sports and the other in sustainable urban development. They are indicative of how we are broadening our area of cooperation. We value the role and influence of Spain within the European Union. We are striving for a closer partnership with the EU and I think if the voice of Spain is more clearly and effectively there in Brussels in support of the relationship, it would certainly help deepen our ties there," he said.
Jaishankar called for Spain to help in India's 'Make in India' endeavor. He also said that both the countries are intensifying their defence cooperation.
"There are already 230 Spanish companies with a presence in India and we would welcome more of them to join us in make in India, design in India and collaborate with India. We've also had some very notable achievements in the field of defense and security when President Sanchez came there we had the handing over of the C295 aircraft and certainly we look forward to intensifying our defense and security cooperation. Indian ships make Port calls to Spain and we value the the collaboration between our militaries we also welcome your own presence closer to our parts of the world especially where the Navy is concerned," he said.
Jaishankar further said that they have agreed to make 2026 a year of Artificial Intelligence and culture tourism, aiming at improving people-to-people ties.
"Looking ahead, one important milestone we have agreed on is 2026 as a year of culture tourism and AI. I think it will help to bring our people much closer," he said.
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Jaishankar said that he was happy as Spanish Consulate opened their office in Bengaluru.
"Another area which I hope to discuss with you is the flow of talent between our countries because the era of AI will call really for greater mobility of skilled professionals. I was very happy that we have recently opened our Consulate in Barcelona. We look forward to your Consulate in Bengaluru and that too is part of our deepening ties today," he said.
Jaishankar also said that India has a strong interest in the Mediterranean and that their annual trade with India stands at USD 80 billion.
"I also want to remind all of you that India actually has a fairly strong interest in the Mediterranean. When we look at the Mediterranean as a region, our annual trade with the Mediterranean today is about USD 80 billion and we have Indian companies who have ports. It's a very important region for fertilizers. We have strong defense and security, we have potentially big green hydrogen projects in the Mediterranean. So I do want to underline that India will be more visible in the Mediterranean in times to come and certainly in that process we count very much on Spain's support. We also have a very good history of collaborating in the G20. Your presence, your contributions to the G20 have always been valued. We want to intensify that," he said.
Jaishankar added that Indian troops are deployed in Lebanon and Golan Heights with the purpose of peacekeeping.
"Where the UN is concerned, we not only work closely but we are deployed in Lebanon. Our peacekeepers are deployed in Lebanon and Golan Heights and again I think we have common interest here to advance we've had the beginnings of our conversation on global and Regional issues. I look forward to continuing it after this press conference," he said.
Jaishankar said that the global issues and developments will be in their agenda to discuss and he hoped for Spain's cooperation with India.
"But certainly recent global developments in the Indo-Pacific, the situation in the Middle East, the future of developments in Ukraine, concerns about terrorism, these are all issues which will be on our agenda. The world may look today a little volatile and uncertain it is important that countries and partners who have similar attitudes and converging interests work more closely. I'm very confident that strong India-Spain relations and a strong India-EU collaboration can be a stabilizing factor in a turbulent world. I certainly hope that my conversations with you and with your leadership would help advance that process," he said.
Jaishankar said that he visited Spain in 2017 alongwith Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and their ties have progressed since then.
"I'm here a few months after president Pedro Sanchez's very successful visit to India. The last time I was here, I was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I accompanied him in 2017 and we can see in the ensuing years actually that there's been very good progress in our cooperation and our job today is to take that when we look at our bilateral trade. It is today about 10 billion Euros. There are huge possibilities in Railways, in digital, in Urban Technologies, smart cities green and clean Technologies," he said.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares affirmed Spain's cooperation with India.
"Spain has great hopes for this bilateral Summit which will be held this year in which we hope to agree on a new strategic agenda between the two regions- between India and Europe and to give a new boost to negotiations between the European Union and India we're also of course going to review the international context situation in the India Pacific region. The main Global Affairs and we will be discussing crucial aspects such as funding for development where India will play a crucial role in that Summit for funding for development of the UN which will take place in Seville here in Spain in June this year," he said.