News 2009

INDIAN HANDICRAFTS IN COLOMBIA

Expoartesanias – the massive annual Handicrafts Fair organized by Colombia - received India as the Guest Country of Honour during the celebrations of the 50 years of relations between Colombia and India. 
The Indian Pavilion, almost 500 metres in area, was manned by 35 handicraft companies with stalls filled with a variety of Indian handicrafts, fabrics, clothing, figures etc.
The wife of the President of Colombia, Mrs. Lina Uribe, inaugurated the Festival and spent two hours speaking with the exhibitors and the seven artisans [ … ]

Visit of Foreign Minister of Colombia
 
The Minister of External Relations of Colombia, Dr. Jaime Bermudez Merizalde paid a two day visit 10-11 November 2009 to India at the invitation of the External Affairs Minister of India, Mr. S.M. Krishna.  Dr. Bermudez was accompanied by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism,Luis Guillermo Plata.
 
Official talks were held on 10 November at which both sides discussed wide range bilateral issues in the political and economic relationship as well as issues of common interest in multilateral fora.  Both si [ … ]

Indian Cinema in Colombia
 
India participated as the Country Invitee of Honour in the XXVI Festival of Cine of Bogota 1-9 October 2009.

The Indian Film industry which is renowned as the largest producer of feature films in the world – producing more films in 2008 than US, China and Japan together – has held tremendous attraction for Colombian audiences for some time.  Films such as Lagaan, Monsoon Wedding, Slumdog Millionaire, etc. have been screened with tremendous success in the past.

The Film Festival provided an exceptional forum to stage t [ … ]

Technical Cooperation with Costa Rica

On 18 September, 2009, the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, Bruno Stagno, along with the Ambassador of India, Shri Deepak Bhojwani, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) in Costa Rica, in collaboration with the Government of India.

The CEIT envisages a Centre for training of professionals and software experts and to create a nucleus to elevate the quality of software and related services by Costa Rica.

Ambassador Deepak Bhojwani highlighted to the gathering the importan [ … ]

Technical Cooperation with Ecuador

The Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Mr. Fander Falconi signed, along with the Ambassador of India, Shri Deepak Bhojwani, a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a Center for Excellence in Information Technology in Ecuador with Indian assistance on 11 August in Quito.

The Center will be based in the National Institute for Higher Studies (IAEN) in Quito, which will provide the installations and other facilities and draw up the curriculum.  The Government of India will provide hardware and software as well as experts to train Ecuadorian [ … ]

50th Anniversary Celebration
 
The 50th Anniversary of the establishment of friendly bilateral relations between Colombia and India was commemorated in Bogota, Colombia in the premises of the Ministry of External Relations of Colombia – the prestigious San Carlos Palace, on June 3 2009.

The event, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, included a speech by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia Ms. Clemencia Forero, the Ambassador of India Mr. Deepak Bhojwani, Ambassador of Colombia in India Mr. J.A. Pinto.  A former President of Colombia Be [ … ]

Foreign Office Consultations – India and Colombia

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Ambassador Clemencia Forero Ucros, visited India and held Foreign Office Consultations with Secretary(West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Ambassador Nalin Surie, on 2 April, 2009. The vice Minister also called on Minister of State for External Affairs his Excellency Mr. Anand Sharma and discussed bilateral relations.

Colombia and India have a long-standing and strong political relationship.  The Foreign Office Consultations have been held periodically over the past years [ … ]

Indian Helicopters to Ecuador

In August 2008, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Ecuador awarded Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s premier public sector aircraft manufacturing company, a contract for supply of seven Dhruv helicopters.

On 13 February, General R. Bohorquez, Chief of the Air Force of Ecuador, received from HAL in the presence of India’s Minister of Defence and senior officials, the first five helicopters to be supplied.  The helicopters were delivered at the end of March and a team of Indian technicians and pilots [ … ]

India and Colombia sign MOU on Defence Cooperation

On 4 February, the Minister of Defence of Colombia, Dr. Juan Manuel Santos, along with the Ambassador of India Shri Deepak Bhojwani signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Defence between the two countries. The ceremony was also attended among others by Vice Minister of Defence Sergio Jaramillo, Chief of Armed Forces, General Freddy Padilla de Leon, Chiefs of Air Force and Navy, Vice Chief of Army and other senior officials.

The MOU establishes the basis for cooperation in this vital area between the [ … ]