New Delhi, Aug 1; External affairs minster S Jaishankar on Monday received Andorra’s Foreign Minister Maria Ubach Font. On her maiden visit to India, the foreign minister of the principality of Andorra Maria Ubach Font, held extensive talks with her Indian counterpart Dr. S Jaishankar, following which the two sides inked a bilateral pact for friendship and cooperation. Jaishankar and Font also discussed Andorra’s efforts to upgrade its relationship with the European Union, besides exchanging views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Font, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Andorra, was on a two-day visit to India from Sunday. This was her first-ever Foreign Minister-level visit between the two nations since diplomatic ties were established in 1994. The tiny principality of Andorra is the 16th smallest country by land and 11th by population, located in the high mountains of the Pyrenees between France and Spain.
“Delighted to welcome FM @mubachfont on the first ever official bilateral visit from Andorra to India,” Jaishankar said on Twitter. “The Friendship and General Cooperation Agreement that we signed today will further enhance our cooperation in political, economic & commercial, health, tourism and other domains,” he said.
Dr. Jaishankar thanked the Andorran Foreign Minister for support to India’s positions and candidatures at multilateral fora. EAM congratulated Andorra for their leadership on the UN Mountain Partnership initiative and admission to the IMF.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the joint declaration of intent for ‘friendship and general cooperation’ lays the framework for cooperation on education, culture, science, information, youth, sports, tourism, diplomacy, health and other areas. “Both countries will encourage the conclusion of agreements in specific fields of mutual interest in future,” it said in a statement.
The MEA also mentioned in statement about Jaishankar’s appreciation for Andorra’s support to India’s positions and candidatures at multilateral fora. “The external affairs minister congratulated Andorra for their leadership on the UN Mountain Partnership initiative and admission to the IMF,” it said.
Jaishankar and Font also discussed Andorra’s efforts to upgrade its relationship with the European Union, besides exchanging views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, it added.
“This first-ever ministerial-level official visit from Andorra to India is of historical significance and reflects India’s desire to engage with all states as we celebrate 75 years of independence,” the MEA said.
Font also met NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery and discussed a possible collaboration in tackling global challenges such as climate change. In the sideline her first visit to India, she also interacted with industry representatives at the Confederation of Indian Industry and delivered a talk at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) on ‘The challenges of a European microstate in the context of the new international arena’.
During her talk at SSIFS, Font, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Andorra said, “we have signed a Joint Declaration of Intent for Friendship and General Cooperation. This will lay the framework for cooperation between the two countries on education, culture, science, information, youth, sports, tourism, diplomacy, health and other areas. Both countries will encourage conclusion of agreements in specific fields of mutual interest in future.”
During her first-ever ministerial level visit from Andorra to India, Font spoke at length with Indian and foreign media. She also highlighted the issues of current global crisis during the special talk with media after delivering her talk at SSIFS. She said, India and Andorra can collaborate on tackling global challenges such as Climate Change and other mutual business relationship.” She also thanked the Indian government and welcomed the opening of an Indian Honorary Consulate in Andorra la Vella.
In a special talk show “Ins & Outs With Sid”, she elaborated the issues like inflation, food crisis, refugee crisis being faced by the microstate due to Russian-Ukraine Crisis and inflation. She also discussed Andorra’s efforts to upgrade its relationship with EU and other global powers in changing geopolitical scenarios.
This first-ever ministerial-level official visit from Andorra to India is being seen as historical significance by the both the countries.
-Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui
Follow via Twitter @shahidsiddiqui
