By Mewati Sitaram
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, accompanied by his spouse Begoña Gómez, met Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on October 29, 2024. The Governor hosted an official reception in Sánchez’s honor, followed by a banquet for the visiting Prime Minister and his delegation.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Sánchez emphasized the importance of enhancing inter-university collaboration and cultural exchanges between Spain and India. He assured that a Spanish football team would soon participate in matches in India. Additionally, he announced that Spain and India will celebrate 2026 as the Year of Culture, Tourism, and AI. He mentioned that Spain plans to send football coaches to India while inviting India to promote cricket in Spain.
Sánchez also highlighted his discussions with Indian film producers, expressing Spain’s desire to foster collaboration with the Indian film industry. Noting that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, he stressed the need to explore more avenues for language promotion and expressed his interest in learning Hindi. The Prime Minister, who is officially referred to as the President of the Government of Spain, shared that he has read the Spanish translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s “Gitanjali.”
Welcoming PM Sánchez to Maharashtra, Governor Radhakrishnan remarked on the growing popularity of football in India, stating that organizing matches would enhance people-to-people connections. He expressed his hope for increased cultural collaboration and academic exchanges between universities in Maharashtra and Spain, noting that Maharashtra has strong universities actively promoting the Spanish language.
On this 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.
The reception was attended by several dignitaries, including 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 the Legislative Council, Dr. Neelam Gorhe; Vice Admiral Sanjay J. Singh, Flag Officer Commanding the Western Naval Command; BMC Administrator Bhushan Gagrani; Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar; and other senior government officials.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
