External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has met the top leadership of Portugal, including Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and discussed ways to bolster India’s relations with the key southern European nation in areas such as defence, trade, investment, tourism and direct air connectivity.

Jaishankar also said the two nations reviewed the implementation of the “agreement of the recruitment of Indian citizens to work in Portugal” and that they agreed on a standard operating procedure for that. “There will be a pilot project to take it forward,” he said.

Stating that India has always regarded Portugal as one of its key partners in the European Union (EU), Jaishankar said, “We look forward to marking in 2025 the establishment of 50 years, re-establishment of our diplomatic relations.”

“We see a lot of new energy and activities across several sectors. Trade and investment is clearly a strong driving force. Indian companies like Indian IT companies, especially, have made their mark in Portugal,” Jaishankar said as part of the joint press statement with Portugal’s foreign minister Joao Cravinho on Tuesday.

Jaishankar arrived here on the first leg of his four-day visit to Portugal and Italy with an aim to further bolster India's bilateral ties with the two key European nations. Jaishankar said the Joint Economic Committee would be asked to follow up on some of the discussions that the two leaders had and “see what more we could be done in health, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy.”

“We also discussed defence cooperation, start-ups, innovation as well. There was some talk between us on direct air connectivity because that is today a missing piece in the relationship,” he said, adding, “We're very confident that our exchanges would expand once we can make progress on that. And both of us put a lot of weight on the development of tourism, and that too would grow with direct air connectivity.”

“Pleasure to meet Prime Minister @antoniocostapm today (Tuesday). Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Discussed contemporary challenges and appreciated his guidance for the further development of our ties (sic),” Jaishankar said in a post on X along with a photo of the meeting.

Appreciating Portugal's support for India-European Union ties, Jaishankar also met Augusto Santos Silva, the President of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic. “Delighted to meet @ASantosSilvaPAR, President of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic. Have always valued his strong support for our bilateral ties. Discussed the importance of our two democracies cooperating closely in a volatile world,” Jaishankar said in another post on X.

Jaishankar also said that he is happy to see that Amul, which is India’s main milk and dairy company, is the first Indian regional sponsor of the Portuguese National Football team.

He also said that the two sides discussed the maritime heritage complex in Lothal (in Gujarat), which India is developing in collaboration with Portugal.

Jaishankar attended some diaspora engagements and paid floral tributes at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba, in front of the Temple Radha Krishna in Lisbon.

From Portugal, Jaishankar will travel to Italy where he will meet his counterpart Antonio Tajani, Minister of Defence and Minister for 'Made in Italy'.

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