Portugal’s Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel speaks about improving trade, and strengthening post-colonial cultural ties ahead of the 50th year of bilateral relations
An early conclusion of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is necessary to “counter” the global trends of protectionism and transactionalism, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told The Hindu during a four-day visit to India.
The visit, Mr. Rangel’s first since the new Social Democratic Party-led government was sworn in after elections in Portugal in April 2024, came a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Brazil.
In talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Delhi on Friday (December 13, 2024), Mr. Rangel discussed plans to mark 50 years of India-Portugal ties next year, which were marred in the 1950s as India fought Portugal to regain control of Goa and other former Portuguese colonies. Mr. Rangel visited India during his first trip to Asia, just days after the European Union concluded talks for an FTA with the South American common market or MERCOSUR, and said that the EU-India talks for a Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) or FTA, underway since 2007, which were relaunched in 2022, must be concluded soon as well.
“When you look at a world where protectionism is gaining ground, the capacity to counter this tendency and align on economic terms has geopolitical value,” Mr. Rangel told The Hindu during an interview in Delhi after a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. “It is crucial to have an EU-India FTA to the benefit of both sides. China and U.S. are economic engines of the world — but the EU with South America, or EU with India will change the balance in geopolitical terms,” Mr. Rangel added.
In response to a question about the incoming Trump administration’s impact on global trade, he warned that “transnational diplomacy or multilateral diplomacy is growing more transactional”.
When asked about Mr. Goyal’s statement in October this year that the EU-India FTA had only made “marginal” progress despite nine rounds of talks due in part to the EU’s “irrational standards”, Mr. Rangel said that the situation called for “pragmatism” and an agreement to allow concessions on both sides.
India’s bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $137.41 billion in 2023-24, making it the largest trading partner of India for goods. India’s trade with Portugal is only about $1.2 billion, and the Portuguese Foreign Minister said Mr. Goyal and he had discussed the next round of official trade talks to be held in January 2025 in Lisbon.
He said that while India and Portugal had major disparities in terms of size, they shared a common approach towards multilateralism, and strengthening the United Nations. He also reaffirmed Portugal’s support for India’s membership of the UN Security Council, along with memberships for Brazil and the African states, and a reform of the UN system that had “been frozen in the circumstances of the Post-World War II situation for far too long”.
Until 1961, Portugal controlled Goa, Daman, Diu, Nagar Haveli and a few other areas in India until it was ousted by the Indian Army’s ‘Operation Vijay’. Apart from India, Portugal colonised Brazil and several countries in Africa, and Mr. Rangel said it had been necessary post-1974 to restart ties with India by acknowledging that “mistakes had been made”, a reference to the atrocities committed by the Portuguese empire (1505-1961), including the Salazar dictatorship of the previous century. Mr. Rangel travelled to Goa on Saturday (December 14, 2024) before his departure on the same day.
“Mistakes were made and we must admit that, but it is necessary to see our common heritage, culture and language that enriches us, especially as we see with Goa,” he said. “We have done this across the last 50 years, and there’s so much room for us to improve our cultural ties between Portugal and India… two cultures that have a history of 500 years,” Mr. Rangel said.
Conclude EU-India FTA to counter forces of protectionism and transactionalism, says Portuguese Foreign Minister
Portugal’s Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel speaks about improving trade, and strengthening post-colonial cultural ties ahead of the 50th year of bilateral relations
An early conclusion of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is necessary to “counter” the global trends of protectionism and transactionalism, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told The Hindu during a four-day visit to India.
The visit, Mr. Rangel’s first since the new Social Democratic Party-led government was sworn in after elections in Portugal in April 2024, came a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Brazil.
In talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Delhi on Friday (December 13, 2024), Mr. Rangel discussed plans to mark 50 years of India-Portugal ties next year, which were marred in the 1950s as India fought Portugal to regain control of Goa and other former Portuguese colonies. Mr. Rangel visited India during his first trip to Asia, just days after the European Union concluded talks for an FTA with the South American common market or MERCOSUR, and said that the EU-India talks for a Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) or FTA, underway since 2007, which were relaunched in 2022, must be concluded soon as well.
“When you look at a world where protectionism is gaining ground, the capacity to counter this tendency and align on economic terms has geopolitical value,” Mr. Rangel told The Hindu during an interview in Delhi after a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. “It is crucial to have an EU-India FTA to the benefit of both sides. China and U.S. are economic engines of the world — but the EU with South America, or EU with India will change the balance in geopolitical terms,” Mr. Rangel added.
In response to a question about the incoming Trump administration’s impact on global trade, he warned that “transnational diplomacy or multilateral diplomacy is growing more transactional”.
When asked about Mr. Goyal’s statement in October this year that the EU-India FTA had only made “marginal” progress despite nine rounds of talks due in part to the EU’s “irrational standards”, Mr. Rangel said that the situation called for “pragmatism” and an agreement to allow concessions on both sides.
India’s bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $137.41 billion in 2023-24, making it the largest trading partner of India for goods. India’s trade with Portugal is only about $1.2 billion, and the Portuguese Foreign Minister said Mr. Goyal and he had discussed the next round of official trade talks to be held in January 2025 in Lisbon.
He said that while India and Portugal had major disparities in terms of size, they shared a common approach towards multilateralism, and strengthening the United Nations. He also reaffirmed Portugal’s support for India’s membership of the UN Security Council, along with memberships for Brazil and the African states, and a reform of the UN system that had “been frozen in the circumstances of the Post-World War II situation for far too long”.
Until 1961, Portugal controlled Goa, Daman, Diu, Nagar Haveli and a few other areas in India until it was ousted by the Indian Army’s ‘Operation Vijay’. Apart from India, Portugal colonised Brazil and several countries in Africa, and Mr. Rangel said it had been necessary post-1974 to restart ties with India by acknowledging that “mistakes had been made”, a reference to the atrocities committed by the Portuguese empire (1505-1961), including the Salazar dictatorship of the previous century. Mr. Rangel travelled to Goa on Saturday (December 14, 2024) before his departure on the same day.
“Mistakes were made and we must admit that, but it is necessary to see our common heritage, culture and language that enriches us, especially as we see with Goa,” he said. “We have done this across the last 50 years, and there’s so much room for us to improve our cultural ties between Portugal and India… two cultures that have a history of 500 years,” Mr. Rangel said.
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