Indian-origin Portuguese PM to visit India in January

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa is expected to visit India in January next year, Consul General for Goa Rui Baceira said here on Monday.

"The Portuguese Prime Minister is coming to India in January. He is of Goan Indian origin. We are very pleased as a consulate to have him here," Baceira said, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Independence Day celebrations in Panaji.

Lawyer turned politician Antonio Costa assumed charge as Prime Minister of Portugal in November last year. Costa hails from Margao town, 35 km south of Panaji.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parserkar has already said that he will formally invite Costa to the coastal state.

 

Goa was a Portuguese colony for 451 years, until it was liberated by the Indian armed forces in 1961. Many Goans hold Portuguese passports under the offer Lisobon made.

--IANS

maya/in/vt