United Nations, Sep 25 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has met officials from Asia, Europe and Latin America on the sidelines of the UN high-level meetings to promote bilateral relations and to exchange views on international and regional issues.
He started with new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro of France, a country with which India has close strategic and diplomatic ties.
He wrote on X after the meeting that they had “a useful exchange of views on major regional issues”.
Barro was appointed foreign minister last week by Prime Minister Michel Barnier who took over after the snap elections.
After his meeting with “dear friend” European Union Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra, EAM Jaishankar posted on X, “Appreciate his support for deepening India-European Union partnership”.
Hoekstra wrote on X, “We look forward to closely working together and further enhancing India-European Union relations in the domains of geopolitics, climate and business.”
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, said on X after meeting EAM Jaishankar, “India is an essential global actor and priority partner for Spain.”
“We discussed our bilateral relations, including trade and culture. Also the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific,” he posted.
Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg of Malta, posted on X that he discussed with EAM Jaishankar the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next month in Samoa and how the group to which both countries belong can find “global solutions to pressing global and regional challenges, from sustainable development to the protection of human rights”.
They also talked about “further intensifying synergies in areas of mutual interest, including ongoing efforts to expand trade relations between our two countries”, he added.
The EAM said on X after meeting Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, “We focussed on ongoing developments in West Asia and their larger implications.”
Ukraine came up during the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Popsoi of Moldova, a neighbour of that country.
EAM Jaishankar wrote, “Discussed deepening our partnership in pharmaceuticals, health, education, capacity building and trade.”
Following his meeting with Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa Lunda, the EAM posted that they spoke about “advancing our bilateral cooperation”.
“Our bilateral partnership has been steadily progressing in various dimensions,” EAM Jaishankar wrote after meeting Hugh Hilton Todd, the foreign minister of Guayana, a country with a large diaspora.
Closer to India, Yemen’s Vice President Aidaros Alzubidi wrote on X after his meeting with the EAM that they had an “important discussion on overlapping interests on regional stability and maritime security, including in the Red Sea”.
“India’s role on the global stage is critical and a partnership I look forward to developing,” he added.
EAM Jaishankar wrote on X that he assured him of “India’s support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Yemen”.
Strategically located on the Red Sea, Yemen is torn by a civil war and its fallout puts shipping in the area at risk.
–IANS
al/sha