With trade ties between India and Central American countries expanding gradually, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua plan to open their embassies in New Delhi next year.
NEW YORK: With trade ties between India and Central American countries expanding gradually, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua plan to open their embassies in New Delhi next year.
Their decision was conveyed to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee when he met foreign ministers of the Central American Integration System (SICA) on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
Appreciating the relaxation of visa regime for Indians, Mukherjee expressed confidence that it would lead to increased trade and investment flows between India and the SICA countries. Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic are the members of the grouping.
SICA members also accepted Mukherjee's offer to host the ministerial-level meeting next year.
At a closed-door meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement's (NAM) Committee on Palestine, Mukherjee welcomed the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, stressing the need to move forward on concrete projects.
He also underlined the need for the dialogue to be sustained, emphasising that violence and counter-violence achieve no purpose and must be condemned.
There is no justification for targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, he said.
The meeting was held to review the situation in west Asia at which the Palestinian leadership briefed the committee on the latest developments.
Mukherjee, who is having a series of bilateral discussions, also attended the meeting of Foreign Ministers of Group of Five (G-5) which explored expanding consultations and cooperation amongst themselves and with the Group of Eight (G-8) industrial nations in areas of mutual interest.
The details of the discussions were not immediately available.
G-5 comprises India, Brazil, Mexico, China and South Korea who were invited to attend the G-8 Heilegendamm Summit.
The meeting was part of ongoing discussions among the five who are fast expanding economies.
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