The designation of 2026 as the Spain-India Dual Year, coinciding with the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the two countries, was agreed jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez during the latter’s visit to India in October 2024.
The Dual Year is a tool for public diplomacy and an opportunity to further mutual knowledge between the two countries, to connect diasporas, and to lay the foundations for increasing exchanges at all levels.
The Dual Year features a strengthened bilateral agenda to be implemented throughout 2026, based on three thematic pillars:
- Culture
- Tourism
- Artificial intelligence
This bilateral agenda is also open to other areas, such as science and academic cooperation, and will involve the participation of numerous organizations and institutions from both Spain and India. From Spain these include:
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (Casa Asia, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Spain-India Council Foundation)
- Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
- Ministry of Tourism
- TURESPAÑA
- State Secretariat for Digital Transformation
- Spanish Cultural Action
- Prestigious Spanish museums and cultural institutions such as Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, Teatro Real and Museo del Prado
Activities related to these three pillars will be held throughout the year. In the cultural sphere, activities will be linked to all forms of artistic expression, including the plastic and performing arts, literature, cinema, photography and new art forms (such as urban art and digital art). The activities have been planned taking into account the foreign action priorities of Spain, of which gender equality, decentralization, and respect for human rights are guiding principles.
The schedule of activities will be complemented by frequent high-level travel and visits, such as those by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and by the Minister for Culture to India, and that of the President of the Government, who will officially inaugurate the Dual Year when he visits the country to attend the India AI impact Summit on 19 and 20 February, to open a bi-national conference of university rectors and vice-chancellors, and to present an exhibition of urban art and an Indo-Spanish documentary, the first co-production of its kind in which RTVE, Spain's largest state-owned public media company, has participated.
Further information
Official website of the Spain-India Council Foundation