India is the fourth largest importer of Dominican exports. Trade between the two countries reached a record of US$1 billion in 2021, due primarily to gold exports. In an interview with Diario Libre, India Ambassador Ramu Abbagani says there is potential for more trade.
The ambassador spoke of India’s plans for more cooperation in science and technology. He expects tourism between both countries to increase. Abbagani says there is potential for Indian investment in the local pharmaceutical industry for export.
The Dominican Republic first sent an ambassador to India in 2006 – Hans Dannenberg Castellanos. The ambassador today is career diplomat David Puig. India accredited its first resident ambassador in the Dominican Republic in 2021, Ambassador Ramu Abbagani.
Abbagani says recently the Secretary for the Eastern Hemisphere of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saurabh Kumar, who was received by the Dominican Deputy Minister for Bilateral Foreign Policy, José Julio Gómez.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the new priority areas of cooperation are university education, oceanography, space exploration, solar energy, climate change, culture, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
Ambassador Abbagani stresses that he is working so that in the three years he will be in the Dominican Republic more Dominicans, especially young people, are introduced to Indian literature and philosophy.
He says he will continue promoting the practice yoga, a discipline that he says helps people to be calmer and embrace peace. “People are the source of strength of a country,” he told Diario Libre.
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Diario Libre
14 July 2022