Jaishankar holds extensive talks with Colombian foreign minister Ramirez

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held extensive talks with his visiting Colombian counterpart Marta Lucia Ramirez with a focus on boosting bilateral ties in areas of health, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and space.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held extensive talks with his visiting Colombian counterpart Marta Lucia Ramirez with a focus on boosting bilateral ties in areas of health, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and space. Ramirez, who is also Vice President of Columbia, began a three-day visit to India on Friday. A 48-member delegation of experts and officials in the fields of health and science and technology is accompanying her.

''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,'' the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. In the talks, Jaishankar underlined India's priorities with respect to UN reforms and both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in multilateral fora, it said.

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 MEA said.

''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,'' it said. Before the arrival of Ramirez, a business delegation headed by Luiz Fernando Ruiz, Colombia's Minister of Health and Social Protection, visited Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru from September 27-30. ''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,'' the MEA said. ''They also visited ISRO facilities and met representatives from New Space India Limited (NSIL) and the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC),'' it said.

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