EAM S Jaishankar holds talks with Portuguese counterpart Joao Cravinho

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday held telephonic talks with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Cravinho and discussed bilateral and multilateral issues.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Jaishankar wrote, "Good to talk to FM @JoaoCravinho of Portugal. Our discussions covered bilateral and multilateral issues."

In response to Jaishankar's tweet, Joao Cravinho tweeted, "Always a pleasure to discuss with @DrSJaishankar, and always plenty to talk about."

The ties between India and Portugal continued to strengthen in 2022, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in its annual report 2022.

Although the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has had a dampening effect on commercial activity, including tourism flows, however, bilateral trade has nonetheless flourished between the two nations.

The ratification of the bilateral Migration and Mobility Agreement, intended to facilitate mutually beneficial migratory flows, has been a major step in this regard, according to the MEA report.

India joining the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) in July 2021 has further added a new dimension to New Delhi's relations with Portugal and the Lusophonic world with events like India celebrating Portuguese Language Day and organizing a Lusophone Cultural Festival in Goa has further strengthened the ties.

Earlier in October last, India and Portugal held the third round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOCs) in Lisbon where the two sides reviewed bilateral relations and discussed cooperation in defence, cultural and people-to-people relations among others.

The consultations were co-chaired by Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in MEA and envoy Rui Vinhas, Director General for Foreign Policy in Portugal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Diplomat Verma also called on Francisco Andre, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Portugal, the Ministry of External Affairs said in the press release.

The two sides carried out a comprehensive review of bilateral relations with a focus on issues like high-level political engagements, implementation of migration and mobility agreement, deepening of trade and economic ties and explored new and existing cooperation avenues in science and technology, defence, cultural and people-to-people relations, etc.

According to MEA's press release, the two sides also exchanged views on global and regional issues of common interest and agreed to work closely in multilateral cooperation.