<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Council of Ministers authorized this Tuesday the signing of the Agreement between the Governments of Spain and India on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters, less than a week before the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, makes an official trip to this country with a clearly economic and business content.</strong></h4> The agreement, according to the Council, regulates mutual assistance between the customs authorities of Spain and India through the defence of economic, tax, social, commercial and public health interests. It also addresses the need to ensure the application of customs regulations through international cooperation, within the conventional framework in this area. çThis bilateral agreement strengthens relations between the two customs administrations, in addition to the international multilateral conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 on narcotics, psychotropic substances and their illicit trafficking, the positions of the World Customs Organization and the Agreement between India and the European Union on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters signed on April 28, 2004. Pedro Sánchez will make his first official trip to India on the 28th and 29th of this month, where he will be received by the Prime Minister of that country, Narendra Modi, will participate in several business meetings and in the Spain-India Council Forum and will make a visit to Bollywood, as <a href="https://thediplomatinspain.com/en/2024/10/08/sanchez-will-travel-to-india-for-the-first-time-at-the-end-of-october/"><strong><em>The Diplomat</em></strong> </a>announced and later confirmed by the Government. This is the first visit by a Spanish Prime Minister to India since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero did so in 2007. Sánchez will leave for India on October 27 accompanied by his wife, Begoña Gómez, as <a href="https://thediplomatinspain.com/en/2024/10/20/sanchez-will-be-accompanied-by-begona-gomez-on-his-next-trip-to-india/"><strong><em>The Diplomat</em></strong></a> also reported. It will be the first time she has accompanied her husband on an official bilateral trip since she has been involved in legal problems. Pedro Sánchez will not travel to the country's capital, New Delhi, but to Bombay and Vadodara, in the state of Gujarat, where Narendra Modi was born and where he was the top ruler. It will be there that both leaders will meet and participate in a meeting with leaders of large Spanish and Indian companies. The following day, the Prime Minister will travel to Bombay to attend the Spain-India Council Forum and participate in a business meeting. In addition, Sánchez's programme includes a visit to Bollywood, the Indian film industry, considered the largest in the world.
