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Visit of Colombian President to India

PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of External Affairs, External Publicity Division, New Delhi

INDIA - COLOMBIA JOINT STATEMENT
On the occasion of the State Visit of H.E. Dr. Andres Pastrana Arango, President of the Republic of Colombia, to India from 4-7 March, 2001

1. At the invitation of the President of the Republic of India, the President of the Republic of Colombia, H.E. Mr. Andres Pastrana Arango, accompanied by Mrs. Nohra Puyana de Pastrana, paid a state visit to India from 4-7 March 2001. The President of Colombia was accompanied by a high level delegation that incl [ … ]

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Visit of Minister of State for External Affairs of India to Colombia

India - Colombia
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT
February 05, 2002 - Bogota

At the invitation of the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Clemencia Forero, the Minister of State for foreign Affairs of the Republic of India, Omar Abdullah, paid an official visit to Colombia from 1-5 February 2002.
During his visit, Minister Omar Abdullah met President Andres Pastrana Arango, with whom he discussed bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. The Minister expressed appreciation for the effort undertaken by the Government of President Pastrana to secure peace in the country.
Minister Omar Abdullah, also held talks with senior Cabinet members of the Colombian government, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, H. E. Dr. Guillermo Fernandez de Soto, and the Minister for External Trade, H. E. Dr. Martha Lucia Ramirez de Rincon.
Minister Omar Abdullah and Vice Minister Forero reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and identified measures for deepening these relations in the political, commercial and economic, technical and scientific, and educational and cultural fields.
Views were also exchanged regarding important multilateral issues such as the reform of the UN Security Council, the situation in Afghanistan, the combat against illicit drugs and terrorism. With respect to terrorism both sides recalled that in the Joint Communiqué issued following the State visit of the President of Colombia to India in March 2001, they had recognised that the global menace of terrorism must be combated vigorously by the entire international community. India and Colombia emphasise that success in this struggle will require international co-operation as well as national commitment. They unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism, whatever the considerations that may be invoked to justify them. Colombia condemned the terrorist attack against the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 and India condemned the latest terrorist attacks against Colombian's infrastructure and civil society. India and Colombia support the full implementation of UNSC Resolution 1373 of September 2001. Colombia will continue its policy of support for finalisation and early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism proposed by India.
Finally, during the meeting between Minister Omar Abdullah and the Colombian Minister for External Trade, an India -Colombia Joint Business Forum was launched and a US$10 million line of credit agreement between the Exim Bank of India and Bancoldex was concluded.
Bogota, February 5, 2002.

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Visit of Minister of Communications and Information Technology to Colombia

PRESS RELEASE
April 02, 2002 - Bogota
Hon’ble Shri Pramod Mahajan, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, paid an official visit to Colombia from 31 March to 3 April, 2002 at the invitation of the Colombian President, H.E Mr Andrés Pastrana Arango. He was accompanied by a 12-member business delegation comprising senior representatives of CIT companies from the public and private sectors.
2. Shri Pramod Mahajan called on President Pastrana on 1 April, who hosted a lunch in honour of Minister CIT. The two leaders reviewed the extensive progress made in strengthening bilateral commercial and economic relations since the State Visit of the Colombian President to India in March 2001 and discussed initiatives to further strengthen Indo-Colombian cooperation in the field of CIT.
3. Hon’ble Minister CIT held talks with the Colombian Minister for Communications, H.E. Ms Angela Montoya Holguin and the Colombian Minister for External Trade, H. E. Ms Angela Maria Orozco Gomez. The three Ministers together addressed an Indo-Colombian Forum on Information Technology and Communications which was attended by a large number of Colombian companies and the accompanying Indian business delegation. Detailed business discussions were also held during the visit between Indian and Colombian companies on joint collaboration, joint ventures and ways of enhancing their business relations.
4. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation in the field of IT was signed during the visit. The MoU provides, inter alia, for the formation of a Joint Task Force which will explore mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of research, design and development of IT; exploration of third-country markets; electronic commerce; electronic governance; electronic health; human resource development through virtual education; training in IT; information security and cyber crime; and banking automation.
5. Colombia has become the first point of entry in Latin America for Indian IT companies. Aptech, Tata Infotech, NIIT and Pentasoft have opened 18 IT education centres in various cities of Colombia.
6. During his visit, Hon’ble Minister CIT inaugurated NIIT’s Bogota Centre and visited Aptech’s main Bogota Centre on the occasion of its first anniversary.
7. Hon’ble Minister CIT and his Colombian counterpart, Ms Angela Montoya Holguin, agreed on the earliest possible constitution of the Indo-Colombia Joint Task Force on IT envisaged under the MoU in order to facilitate the further growth of cooperation and business relations at both governmental and private sector levels. They also stressed the importance of moving ahead with joint ventures in IT education, software development and IT enabled services, with a view to exploiting opportunities in the large Spanish-speaking Latin American market.
8. Hon’ble Minister CIT invited the Colombian Minister for Communications to pay a return visit to India at the head of a business delegation at an early date. The invitation was accepted with pleasure, with mutually convenient dates to be decided through diplomatic channels.
Bogotá, 02 April, 2002
 

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Visit of Minister of State for External Affairs of India to attend the inauguration of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez

Visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs, Hon'ble Mr. Digvijay Singh
to Colombia from 6-8 August, 2002
PRESS RELEASE
The Minister of State for External Affairs, Hon'ble Mr Digvijay Singh, MOS (DS), paid an official visit to Bogota from 6-8 August, 2002 to attend ceremonies associated with the inauguration of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez.
On 6 August, MOS (DS) presented his credentials as the Leader of India's Special Mission to outgoing Colombian President Andres Pastrana Arango. President Pastrana warmly welcomed the visit of MOS (DS) and conveyed his greetings to our President and Prime Minister. Recalling his State Visit to India in March, 2001, President Pastrana also expressed the hope that the close and friendly relations between India and Colombia will continue to prosper under the new Administration.
On 7 August, MOS (DS) attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new Colombian President, H.E. Mr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez, held in the Capitol of the Colombian Congress.
Following the ceremony, MOS (DS) attended the reception hosted by President Uribe in the Presidential Palace for Heads of Special Missions. MOS (DS) handed over the message of felicitations from our President to the new Colombian President and conveyed the support of the Government of India for President Uribe's determination to strengthen the authority of the Colombian State to curb terrorist violence. President Uribe extended his greetings to India's leadership and people. He thanked MOS (DS) for India's support for Colombia's struggle against narco-terrorist violence and conveyed that Colombia greatly values India's friendship and collaboration.
MOS (DS) held bilateral talks with H.E. Ms Carolina Barco Isakson, Colombia's new Minister for External Relations, on 8 August. MOS (DS) conveyed the felicitations of EAM on her assumption of office. Recalling the importance of the regular exchange of high-level visits which have been instrumental in giving an impetus to bilateral relations, MOS (DS) handed over a letter from EAM inviting Foreign Minister Barco to pay an official visit to India. Talks between MOS and FM Barco, which were held in an atmosphere of warmth and mutual understanding, provided an opportunity for a review of the entire spectrum of bilateral relations in political, commercial and economic, cultural and technical fields. Both sides agreed to maintain and deepen their co-operation in combating the global menace of terrorism. MOS (DS) invited the Colombian President to inaugurate the solar energy project being installed under Ministry of External Affairs of India's technical co-operation programme at the Tyrona National Park of Colombia. This project, which will be India's largest such venture in Latin America, is expected to be ready for commissioning by October, 2002.
During his visit to Bogota, MOS (DS) also held a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, H.E. Mr. Roberto Tovar Faja, on 7 August. MOS (DS) invited FM Tovar to pay an official visit to India. Views were exchanged regarding the participation of RITES in the rehabilitation of the Costa Rican railroad. FM Tovar agreed to expedite decisions in this regard.
Costa Rica currently chairs the 19-member Rio Group comprising Latin American States. An annual dialogue between India and the Rio Group Troika at the level of Foreign Ministers has been institutionalised. MOS (DS) handed over to FM Tovar a proposed agenda for the next round of India-Rio Group Troika dialogue which is to be held in the margins of the UNGA in September, 2002.

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Official Visit of Colombian Foreign Minister H.E Ms Carolina Barco to India

 

Foreign Minister Craolina Barco visited India in  February 2003. In the photo Mrs. Barco is with the Ambassador of India to Colombia Ms Nilima Mitra and the wife of the Colombian Ambassador to India.
 

 

 

 

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Inauguration of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Bogotá

 

Ms Nilima Mitra, Ambassador of India, S.E Mr Luis Eduardo Garzón, Mayor of Bogotá and H.E Mr Camilo Reyes Rodríguez, Vice Minister of Bilateral Relations inaugurated the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Parque El Tunal on 11 February 2004.

 

 

Visit of Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs to Colombia

3-4 September 2004

Rao Inderjit Singh, MOS (RIS) called on the Foreign Minister Ms Carolina Barco and had delegation-level talks with Mr Camilo Reyes, Vice Minister for External Relations. The Colombian side thanked India for technical and economic assistance and showed interest in expanding the cooperation to more areas. They invited Indian companies to participate in the infrastructure projects for linking Colombia with Mexico through Central America under “Plan Puebla Panama”. The areas of opportunities include transmission lines, ports, roads, oil and g [ … ]

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEME FOR OVERSEAS CITIZENSHIP OF INDIA BECOMES OPERATIONAL

The Embassy of India, Bogotá is pleased to announce that the scheme for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) will become operational from 14 November 2005. Details of the scheme, conditions of eligibility, application forms, fees and benefits are available on the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India at www.mha.nic.in.

All foreign nationals of Indian origin based in Colombia and Ecuador who may be interested in applying for the Overseas Citizenship of India are requested to check the details on this website and apply to the Embassy of India, Bogotá in the prescribed forms along with the prescribed fee.