On Thursday, April 8, Minister of State for Finance Minister Anurag Thakur was called upon by Minister of State for Internationalization Eurico Brihante Das of Portugal during his visit to India to participate in the up-coming 5th Joint Economic Commission India-Portugal which will take place in New Delhi.
MoS Finance Anurag Thakur tweeted about meeting with the Portugese MoS on his official Twitter handle. He wrote, “Wonderful meeting with Mr. Eurico Brilhante Dias, Minister of State for Internationalization, Portugal. We discussed the forthcoming 5th Joint Economic Commission India-Portugal taking place in New Delhi. India welcomes and is open for stronger trade and investment ties with the European Union.”
Wonderful meeting w/ H.E Mr Eurico Brilhante Dias,Minister of State for Internationalization, Portugal.
We discussed the forthcoming 5th Joint Economic Commission India-Portugal taking place in New Delhi.
India welcomes and is open for stronger trade & investment ties w/ the EU. pic.twitter.com/hpDRTc9WiP— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) April 8, 2021
Talking about the Portugal investment, Portugal ranks 50th in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India with total cumulative FDI equity inflows between 2000-2019 amounting to approx. US$ 100 million (DPIIT data, December 2019). Portuguese investments in India doubled from approximately US$ 49 million in 2017 to approximately US$ 100 million in December 2019.
Portugal views India as a vibrant pluralistic democracy, a major world economy, and an ancient civilisation with which it has close historical and cultural ties. Portugal has advocated for India in multilateral forums by consistently supporting India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the Nuclear Suppliers Group and Indian candidatures to various bodies.
The idea of starting a India-EU Summit was mooted for the first time by Portugal when the current UNSG Antonio Guterres was the Portuguese Prime Minister and the first India-EU Summit was subsequently held in Lisbon under the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union in 2000 which was attended by Prime Minister Vajpayee and 4 Cabinet Ministers.
India and Portugal have actively supported each other for various candidatures at the United Nations and other multilateral forums, including for UNSC non-permanent seats (India in 2021-22 and Portugal for 2027-28). Mr. António Guterres, former Prime Minister of Portugal, assumed office as United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) on January 1, 2017.
