India has welcomed Spain’s interest in participating in its national defence manufacturing programme

India and Spain committed to add new depth and content to their ties as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares reviewed the full spectrum of the bilateral relationship on Wednesday.

The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation is on his first official visit to India.

"Warm and productive discussions with Foreign Minister @jmalbares of Spain.

Discussed our growing engagements in political,defense, economic and cultural domains. Envisage enhanced collaboration to support self reliance and resilient supply chains," EAM Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

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

According to the MEA, the two ministers stressed on 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.

The two leaders welcomed signing of the defence contract as part of which Airbus Spain will supply 56 C295 aircraft, 40 of which would be Made in India, and agreed to further deepen defence and security cooperation.

The MEA said that India welcomed Spain’s interest in participating in its national defence manufacturing programme through Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. The two ministers reiterated their commitment to closely work in countering common challenges related to terrorism, violent extremism and cyber crime.

The bilateral talks also covered trade and investment. EAM Jaishankar and Spanish Foreign Minister Albares 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, deep sea exploration where the two countries can collaborate further," the MEA said.

They welcomed the restart of India-EU FTA negotiations later this month.

The 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.

During their talks, the two ministers discussed the situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan.

On Ukraine, the two Ministers expressed their concern on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the MEA said.

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 strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific region and to promote collaborative efforts among like-minded nations," the MEA noted

They agreed to explore collaboration in development partnership and economic activities in the LAC region and in this context discussed the Ibero-American Conference.

According to the MEA, both Ministers appreciated the cooperation between India and Spain in the UN and other multilateral bodies.