Sánchez and Modi sign a new roadmap for Spain-India relations in the coming years

Eduardo González The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, was received this Monday by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, with whom he inaugurated the Airbus plant and that of its local partner TATA in the town of Vadodara and signed a Joint Declaration that will serve as a roadmap for the coming years in the political, economic and commercial, cultural, scientific, technological, innovation, consular affairs and tourism and relations. Sánchez began his first official trip to India on Monday at the invitation of Modi. The President of the Government is traveling accompanied by his wife, Begoña Gómez - despite her legal problems - with the fundamental purpose of defending Spanish business interests in the country, according to sources from Moncloa. This is the first visit by a Spanish president to India since that of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2007. The day on Monday began with the inauguration, by Sánchez and Modi, of the Airbus plant and its local partner TATA, where 40 units of the C-295 aircraft will be produced, the largest contract awarded by India in the defence sector. According to the agreement, the first 16 units will be assembled at the Airbus factory in Seville and the remaining ones will be produced under licence in Vadodara. “This partnership between Airbus and Tata will contribute to the progress of the Indian aerospace industry and will open new doors to the arrival of other European companies,” said Sánchez, quoted in a press release from Moncloa. Furthermore, the President of the Government assured that this project demonstrates the capabilities of the Spanish defence industry and the contributions of Spanish companies in India. The project is expected to create 600 highly-skilled jobs, more than 3,000 medium-skilled jobs and another 3,000 indirect jobs. “This plant perfectly sums up the excellent state of bilateral relations between Spain and India,” he said. “If Indian companies want to grow, they can trust Spain,” he added. After the inauguration of the plant, Modi and Sánchez held a meeting in which they addressed issues of the bilateral relationship as well as international issues, such as the war in Ukraine. In addition, both leaders signed a Joint Declaration, which follows the one signed in 2017 and which will serve as a roadmap for the coming years in the political, economic and commercial, cultural, scientific, technological, innovation, consular affairs, tourism and people-to-people relations. It was also agreed to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the joint organisation of the India-Spain Year of Culture, Tourism and Artificial Intelligence in 2026. Sanchez and Modi took advantage of their meeting to sign several agreements in multiple areas, such as an international agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters and a declaration to establish a fast-track investment mechanism, which aims to facilitate investment, identifying and resolving the problems faced by Spanish investors with their operations in India and vice versa. The fast-tracking method allows projects to be accelerated by optimising available resources and reducing execution times to a minimum. This technique has become increasingly common in the business world. On the other hand, two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were adopted: the first, on cooperation in the railway field, which will include the planning, design, development, construction, commissioning and operation of infrastructure, as well as the management and operation of railway transport and train maintenance; and the second on cultural exchange, and aims to delve deeper into the general framework of cultural cooperation, in cultural exchange activities and programs.

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