Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said India and Portugal will co-operate in a number of areas, including startups, marine technology and oceanography.
Modi and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa launched the India-Portugal International Startup Hub here following bilateral talks.
Addressing a joint media briefing after talks, Modi said that ties between the two countries were on the upswing following the visit Costa, who traces his origin to Goa, to India in January this year.
India and Portugal have good people-to-people ties, Modi said, adding that football was a cultural connect between them.
He also said both India and Portugal were determined to deepen the co-operation in the fight against terrorism and religious extremism.
Costa thanked the expatriate Indian community’s contribution to Portugal’s economy and society.
The two sides signed a number of agreements, including on digital sector and youth exchange.
Costa said several areas of co-operation have been identified like sports, biotechnology and space.
Modi arrived here on the first leg of his three-nation tour that will also take him to the US and the Netherlands.
The prime minister met Costa at the Necessidades Palace in Lisbon. This is the first-ever bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to Portugal.
In what can be seen as a special gesture, Modi was treated to a Gujarati meal by his Portuguese counterpart, as they sat down for a delegation-level working lunch.
“In a gesture of personal warmth and attention, PM @antoniocostapm arranged a special Gujarati meal at the lunch hosted for PM @narendramodi,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay tweeted.
The menu included aakhu saak, saag kofta, rajma aur makai, tarkha daal, kesar rice, paratha, roti, and papad, mango shrikhand, and gulab jamun.
>> When US President Donald Trump hosts Modi at the White House tomorrow, the two leaders will share much in common.
Both are political outsiders who champion a muscular, country-first nationalism. They enjoy feverish support from their vote bases while their governments assail critics and ignore - or encourage - hostility towards minority groups.
A senior White House official briefing reporters ahead of the visit on Friday said Trump visited Mumbai during his business career and noted that the two men have more social media followers than any world leaders on earth, making sure to point out that Trump is slightly ahead of Modi.
But beyond the personalities, there are signs that the US-India partnership - which grew closer under the Obama administration on issues such as climate change - could be headed for rougher waters.
When Trump withdrew from the Paris climate change agreement, he lashed out at India directly, accusing it of exploiting the deal to secure “billions and billions of dollars of foreign aid.”
Trump has vowed to curb trade deficits, a direct threat to India’s $150bn outsourcing industry. And he has railed against the H1B visa programme that brings tens of thousands of Indian workers to the US every year, saying companies should hire more Americans.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa share as light moment as they take walk at the Necessidades Palace in Lisbon yesterday.
