Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva has met in Sofia with the Minister of External Affairs of India Sushma Swaraj.

This is the first visit to Bulgaria by an Indian external minister in 20 years. Ministers Zaharieva and Swaraj emphasized that the two countries, which are marking 65 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations this year, are bound in traditional friendship and fruitful cooperation. They pointed to high tech, the pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, the food industry and tourism as spheres with great development potential.

Minister Zaharieva pointed out that a Bulgarian company is successfully developing its business under the “Make in India” initiative, another company is an internet provider to more than 200,000 users in Delhi, and that there is a Bulgarian pharmaceutical factory in India.

More than 14,500 people from India have visited Bulgaria in 2018. As of March this year, Bulgarian visas will be issued in more than 15 Indian towns and cities.