New Delhi: During his initial remarks on the 100 days of the Modi government on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar declared Indian administration's intention to give more attention to the Latin America and Caribbean region in the next five years.
Welcoming Foreign Minister's remarks, Ambassador of Dominican Republic to India, Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, hoped that the assurance from Dr Jaishankar will finally equate into the opening of new Indian embassies in the Latin America and Caribbean region including his country.
In an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat, Castellanos who is not only the longest-serving ambassador to India (13 years) but also the Dean of Diplomatic Corps hailed the upcoming meet of PM Modi with 12 state heads of Carribean countries on the sideline of 74th United Nations General Assembly session on September 25.
Speaking highly of the enhanced engagement between Latin America and India in recent years, he invited both Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister to his country.
"Prime Minister Modi has done a great job in engaging with Central Asian, Pacific and African countries but so far he hasn't engaged with our region. We hope that PM Modi and EAM Jaishankar will visit our region soon," said Dominican Republic envoy.
The Dominican Republic envoy who has been heading his mission in India since its inception (2006) claimed that there is a great scope for countries to grow together.
He said, "countries have more trade with India than many European countries. It is important that PM Modi, MEA and Ministry of Commerce start realising that although we are far, we are here. We want to do business with India. And, it can look at us strongly and we want India to be present in our capitals."
Diplomatic ties between India and the Dominic Republic were established in 1999. Seven years later, the Latin American country opened its mission in New Delhi while there is still no Indian embassy in the Dominican Republic. Indian mission in Cuba is jointly accredited to the Dominican Republic. The bilateral trade between both countries has reached close to $1 bn.
Also read: Pak always underestimated our national leadership: IAF chief
