New Delhi, May 1 (UNI) India and El Salvador on Monday held the Fourth Round of Foreign Office Consultations here during which they held discussions on enhancing bilateral ties in trade, health and pharma, capacity building, culture and education.
The FOC were co-chaired by Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador Adriana Mira de Pereira, who is visiting India from May 1-2.
During the talks, both sides reviewed their bilateral relations and chalked out the way forward. They also discussed bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors including trade and economic, health and pharmaceuticals, ICT and eGovernance, energy including renewables, development cooperation and capacity building, culture and education, a statement said.
Secretary (East) invited El Salvador to participate in the India-LAC Business Conclave being organized by CII in August 2023 in New Delhi.
Both sides positively assessed their ongoing cooperation at the regional and multilateral fora.
This interaction follows shortly after the visit of Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs, to El Salvador, in Central America, in January 2023; that of Alexandra Hill Tinoco, Foreign Minister of El Salvador, to India in February 2023, and the interaction between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister Hill on the margins of the India-SICA (Central American Integration System) Foreign Ministerial meeting in Panama on April 25. It is indicative of the growing strength of bilateral relations between the two countries, the statement added.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said:
“4th India-El Salvador FOC held in New Delhi. Led by Secy (East)
@AmbSaurabhKumar and Vice Minister Adriana Mira de Pereira of El Salvador.
“Discussions covered further development of bilateral ties including in areas of trade, health & pharma, capacity building, culture and education.
“Also on the agenda was cooperation in multilateral fora including in the framework of India-SICA.”
UNI RN