- Spain's Foreign Minister called India a reliable partner upholding international law and multilateralism
- Spain aims to deepen its strategic partnership with India, signaling closer bilateral ties
- Spain supports concluding the India-EU Free Trade Agreement during the upcoming summit
Spain on Wednesday sent a strong political and economic signal in support of India's rising global role, with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares describing India as a "reliable country" that believes in international law, multilateralism, and the principles of the United Nations Charter, even as both sides pushed to elevate bilateral ties and accelerate cooperation ahead of the high-stakes India-European Union summit later this month.
Speaking in New Delhi during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Albares underlined that in "very complicated times in the world," Spain considers it essential to deepen its partnership with India, which he portrayed as a stable and trustworthy international actor.
His remarks come at a politically significant moment, just days before the India-EU summit scheduled for January 27, where a long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected to be a central focus and could finally be inked.
Albares said Spain "would very much love to see" the final agreement of the India-EU FTA being concluded, calling it "the right time" for such a step.
Pointing to the economic momentum on both sides, he noted that Spain and India are among the fastest-growing economies and that businesses in both countries are already benefiting from this growth. He stressed that the next phase should focus on further increasing trade relations, expanding the footprint of Spanish companies in India and Indian companies in Spain, and encouraging more joint ventures.
Citing the partnership between Spanish infrastructure major Herbas and India's Tata Group as a model, Albares said such collaborations represent "the real example of what we have to foster and what we have to be achieving" in bilateral economic ties. His comments reinforced the growing convergence between New Delhi and Madrid on manufacturing, infrastructure, mobility, and industrial cooperation.
A key political takeaway from the visit was Spain's intention to elevate its relationship with India to a "strategic association," the highest level of partnership Madrid offers to close partners. Albares said he had brought a formal letter to convey this intention, signalling that Spain wants to anchor India much more centrally in its foreign policy, both bilaterally and through the European Union.
The Spanish minister also announced that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will soon visit India and expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Spain in return, maintaining the recent momentum of high-level exchanges. He thanked Jaishankar for being a special invitee to Spain's Ambassadors' Conference last year and said the pace of senior-level engagement should continue.
Beyond economics and diplomacy, culture and people-to-people ties also featured prominently. Both ministers jointly unveiled the logo for the "Dual Year" in 2026, which will celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations and focus on culture, tourism, and artificial intelligence. Albares said the logo, selected through a crowdsourcing process, symbolised the shared vision for the future of the relationship and praised the public participation in shaping the initiative.
Importantly, Albares said Spain would be "very happy" to join India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, a move that underlines Madrid's growing interest in the Indo-Pacific and its willingness to align more closely with India's regional vision.
Jaishankar, in his opening remarks, echoed the themes of trust, shared democratic values, and multilateralism, noting that India-Spain ties are rooted in a commitment to a rule-based international order. He highlighted that bilateral trade has crossed $8 billion and that Spanish companies have built a strong presence in India in sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energy, urban mobility, water management, and smart cities, while Indian firms are active in Spain in IT, pharmaceuticals, and automotive components.
The meeting also reviewed flagship projects such as the Airbus-Tata C-295 final assembly line in Vadodara, a symbol of the deepening defence-industrial partnership, and discussed cooperation in AI, with India set to host the AI Impact Summit next month.
In a world marked by geopolitical churn, Albares' description of India as a dependable and principled partner carries weight. With the India-EU summit just days away and the FTA within reach, Spain's strong endorsement of India and its push to upgrade bilateral ties underscored a broader European recalibration towards New Delhi -- one that could reshape trade, technology, and strategic cooperation in the years ahead.
