BOGOTA: Meeting between External Affairs Minister and Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia

BOGOTA: Minister of External Affairs
Dr. S. Jaishankar held a bilateral dialogue with Vice President and Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Colombia H.E. Ms. Marta Lucia Ramirez on 2 October. Ms.
Ramirez is leading a 48 member health and science and technology delegation to
India from 1-3 October 2021.

 She is accompanied by Dr. Luiz Fernando Ruiz,
Minister of Health and Social Protection, government officials, representatives
from business and educational institutions. EAM had earlier met Ms. Ramirez on
the side-lines of UNGA-76 on 25th September 2021.

The leaders held a comprehensive dialogue covering sectors such as Health,
Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Space. Regional and international issues of
mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting. EAM underlined India’s
priorities with respect to UN reforms. The leaders agreed to strengthen
cooperation in multilateral fora.

There has been a steady growth in bilateral trade between India and Colombia
which stood at USD 2.27 billion in 2020-21, despite the disruptions caused by
the Covid-19 pandemic. Both sides agreed to work together to further promote
trade and investment in energy, IT, pharmaceuticals and automobile sectors.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of two Letters of Intent for cooperation
in the fields of biotechnology and medical research. These were signed by the
Department of Biotechnology and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with
their Colombian counterparts.

Before the arrival of VP Ramirez, a business delegation headed by Dr. Luiz
Fernando Ruiz, Minister of Health and Social Protection travelled to Pune,
Hyderabad and Bengaluru from 27-30 September.

They visited centres of excellence and
pharmaceutical companies in these cities with the objective of exploring
co-production and technology transfers in the development of vaccines and
pharmaceutical products. They also visited ISRO facilities and met
representatives from New Space India Limited (NSIL) and the Human Space Flight
Centre (HSFC).

During the meeting, the two sides welcomed the recent momentum in high level
engagements and agreed to enhance their cooperation in identified areas for
mutual benefit.