Mumbai, Oct 29
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday spoke of improving inter-university collaboration and cultural exchanges between Spain and India and assured that the Spanish team will participate in soccer matches in India soon.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accompanied by his spouse Begona Gomez, was speaking to Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan during a reception hosted by the latter at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. Prime Minister Sanchez mentioned that Spain and India are celebrating 2026 as the Year of Culture, Tourism, and AI. He stated that Spain will send football coaches to India while India can promote cricket in his country. During the conversation, Sanchez highlighted his meeting with Indian film producers, expressing Spain's interest in collaborating with the Indian film industry to promote joint initiatives. He noted that Spanish is the second-largest language spoken in the world and emphasized the need to explore more avenues for collaboration in promoting languages. On this note, Sanchez mentioned his desire to learn Hindi. Officially referred to as the President of the Government of Spain, Prime Minister Sanchez shared that he had read the Spanish translation of Rabindranath Tagore's 'Gitanjali.' Welcoming the Spanish Prime Minister to Maharashtra, Governor Radhakrishnan remarked on the growing popularity of football in India. He suggested that organizing football matches in India would enhance people-to-people contacts. The Governor expressed his hope for increased cultural collaboration and academic exchanges between universities in Maharashtra and Spain, noting that good universities in Maharashtra are promoting Spanish language studies significantly. On the occasion, Sundeep Waslekar, Chairman of the Strategic Foresight Group-a Mumbai-based think tank-presented his book 'A World without War' to the Spanish Prime Minister. Following this event, Governor Radhakrishnan hosted a banquet in honor of the visiting Spanish Prime Minister and his delegation. Present at the reception were Spain's Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Oscar Puente, Minister of Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu, Ambassador of Spain to India Juan Antonio March Pujol, Deputy Chairperson of Legislative Council Dr. Neelam Gorhe, Flag Officer Commanding - Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Sanjay J. Singh, Administrator of BMC Bhushan Gagrani, Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, and senior government officials.