PM Modi invites more Spanish investments in India during talks with Sanchez in Italy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited more investments from Spain in India's infrastructure projects as he met his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on the sidelines of the G20 summit here and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including the situation in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.

Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to attend the G20 summit, was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with Sanchez.

The two leaders welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment linkages including the recent signing of the contract to procure 56 C295 aircraft from Airbus Spain, 40 of which will be ‘Made in India’ in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.

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The two leaders agreed to further expand bilateral cooperation in new areas like e-mobility, clean tech, advanced materials and deep sea exploration.

Prime Minister Modi invited Spain to invest in various sectors including Green Hydrogen, infrastructure and defence manufacturing and further take advantage of India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline, Asset Monetisation Plan and the Gati Shakti Plan, the release said.

The two leaders discussed India-European Union relations as well as cooperation on climate action and priorities at upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow. They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest including Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific, it said.

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India has voiced concern over the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August. India has underlined the need for Afghanistan's territory not to be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist attacks.

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

Modi also said he looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Sanchez in India next year.

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Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted that both leaders had fruitful talks on ways to deepen ties between India and Spain.

"The two nations are cooperating extensively in areas such as trade, energy, innovation and more,” it said.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that Prime Minister Modi invited Spain to invest in various sectors in India including green hydrogen, infrastructure and defence manufacturing.

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On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Prime Minister Modi interacted with several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and South Korean President Moon Jae-in among others.

Italy has been holding the presidency of the G20 since December last year.

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