The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, concluded his visit to India on Wednesday, where he met with his counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, with whom he reviewed bilateral relations and key international issues. In addition, both agreed to work together to upgrade the relationship to a strategic partnership in the near future.
The agenda also included a meeting with Spanish business leaders and concluded with an audience that the President of the Republic of India, Droupadi Murmu, offered to the Minister.
India, strategic for Spain's global foreign policy
This trip, which is part of Minister Jaishankar's invitation to reciprocate his visit to Madrid in January 2025, when he attended the Conference of Ambassadors as a guest, is another milestone in the renewed momentum in Spain's relations with India.
Albares highlighted the importance of India – the world's fourth largest economy, the world's most populous country, and a global player committed to multilateralism and democracy – for our global foreign policy. A relationship that, as established in the new Asia-Pacific Strategy 2026-2029, is particularly significant in a context of geopolitical uncertainty.
In this regard, Minister Albares announced Spain's accession to the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative launched by India, which seeks to generate opportunities for cooperation with that country in areas such as science, connectivity, maritime transport and disaster risk reduction.
Furthermore, Spain's presence in India is multifaceted and growing. It includes specialised offices in New Delhi and Mumbai in areas such as trade, defence, tourism, education and agriculture, as well as the Cervantes Institute in the capital since 2007. Albares announced that Spain, which has had a Consulate General in Mumbai since 2006, will open another in Bangalore, covering the southern states of the country, as part of a diplomatic deployment in line with an ambitious agenda with a partner of enormous potential.
Economic and trade relations
On economic matters, the Spanish Minister gave a ‘very positive’ assessment of the evolution of trade relations in recent years, ‘characterised by significant growth that is more balanced than in previous periods.’ He stressed that bilateral trade has grown by more than 50% in recent years, which is significant given that India is one of the countries, along with Spain, with the highest economic growth in the world.
India is currently Spain's second largest trading partner in Asia, and Spain is India's sixth largest trading partner in the EU. ‘It is positive that Spanish exports to India have grown by almost 20% since 2024, and we will continue to support our exporters and investors towards more ambitious goals,’ said Albares, who expressed his support for the conclusion of an EU-India free trade agreement, within the EU's strategic agenda with this Asian giant.
Spain-India Dual Year
During the visit, the logo for the Spain-India Dual Year was presented. This initiative focuses on culture, tourism and artificial intelligence and was agreed during the visit of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to India in October 2024 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, which will be celebrated in 2026.
The Minister explained that, throughout the year, cultural, scientific and business activities in India and Spain ‘will be reinforced thanks to the participation of numerous actors in both countries, both institutional and civil society.’ For this reason, he added, the Dual Year logo, designed jointly, ‘symbolises Indian and Spanish art, music and traditional culture using the colours of the two national flags.’
Among the activities, on 19 and 20 February, as part of the World AI Summit in New Delhi, the largest meeting ever organised between the 20 leading Indian universities and the rectors of the 80 Spanish universities with the greatest international outreach will take place.
At the end of 2026, a similar meeting will be organised in Spain, where it will be possible to see how agreements, research projects and innovations have multiplied, creating a new dimension in the Indian and Spanish university world.
Also on the occasion of the Dual Year, on 25 and 26 May, the first major meeting between all the Spanish Chambers of Commerce, around 80 at the level of presidents and secretaries-general, with the 200 main Chambers of Commerce in India in order to create a much more diversified network that will facilitate the creation of future projects for Indian and Spanish SMEs, which sometimes find it more difficult to connect.
For images of the event, click here
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