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November 15, 2013 Volume VIII, Issue 11 100/- or US $10

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____________________________________________ SPECIAL REPORTS

IndiaSpain Bilateral Relations On The Upswing

Indo-Spain bilateral relations are on the upswing in the areas of economy, infrastructure and Defence. In fact such is the keenness on both sides to collaborate in the area of Defence that a formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed in October 2012 and both sides had been looking at increased collaboration in the sector since. Secretary DRDO is slated to visit Spain in December 2013 to look at the possibilities of collaboration. The Defence MOU has a congenial ambience to build a stronger bilateral architecture between the two countries. In fact a catalogue of positive gains reveals that bilateral relations have achieved a new direction, says Harminder Kaur

Spanish Minister of Defence Pedro Morenes Eulate and Defence Minister A.K. Antony exchange an MoU on Defence Cooperation in the presence of King Juan Carlos I of Spain with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House New Delhi

ollowing a keenness to collaborate in the area of defence several high level exchanges have taken place between the two countries. Admiral DK Joshi paid an official visit to Spain in June 2012 on invitation from his Spanish counter-part. Former Naval Chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma also visited the country in 2011. Both the Naval Chief s visited several naval bases in Spain, Schools of Defence and defence industry related facilities. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne paid a visit in April 2013 and army Chief, General Bikram Singh is expected to go next year. The Air Chief s itinerary included visits to military establishments and defence

industry related facilities. Earlier Former Spanish Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Garcia Rebollo visited India in 2011 and Secretary General of Defence Policy, Mr. Alejandro Alvargonzlez visited in September 2012. An invitation to the current Navy Chief of Staff of Spain has been extended by India and he is expected to visit soon. NAVAL PROJECTS Since the defence MOU was signed there has been a forward movement in collaboration between the defence industries of the two countries. Spanish public sector firm NAVANTIA which already worked for the Navy in the building of the Scorpene, jointly developed with a French company, DCNS is

planning to offer its S-80 diesel electric submarine. NAVANTIA received some adverse publicity for the Scorpene as it was alleged that the delays in inducting the submarine were caused by it quitting the project. The General Manager of the company, Jose Luis Montes, however, explained that: We had a three year contract and we have finished that. We did not quit the project. NAVANTIA is looking at the future now to offer products like aircraft carriers and different types of vessels. NAVANTIA has also partnered with L&T to ship-build in India under transfer of technology. On offer are the Landing Platform Dock, which is a hybrid ship, amphibious and aircraft-carrier at the same time, Logistic

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SPECIAL REPORTS ____________________________________________

to learn from India how they investigate various groups linkages to each other, what methodologies they use and they would like India to share information with them. He emphasized that as the whole world is in the grip of global terrorism collaborating on intelligence is the only way to defeat their designs. Spain would be happy to collaborate in technology, information sharing and coastal surveillance, he said. Spain has one of the best coastal surveillance systems that can detect all incoming and outgoing vessels. OPENING NEW AREAS OF COLLABORATION Following the many MOUs signed between the two countries several high levels political exchanges have been witnessed in the last couple of years. Former External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna visited Spain in April 2012. The same was reciprocated by the Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo in October 2012, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot visited Spain in February 2011, Advisor to the Prime Minister, Sam Pitroda in May 2011, Dr C.P. Joshi, Minister for Road Transport and Highways in May 2011, a 42-member delegation of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers in Sptember 2011, Minister of Overseas Affairs and Civil Aviation, Mr Vaylar Ravi in October 2011, Minister of Communications and IT, Mr Kapil Sibal in Februray 2012, Minister of State for Tourism Dr. K. Cheeranjivi in February 2013, Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma is expected to visit by the end of October 2013 to chair the IndoSpain Joint Economic Commission. This will be followed by a business delegation from Spain in November 2013. The delegation will be accompanied by the Chief Minister of Catalonia, Artur Mas. There have also been several exchanges between Parliamentary delegations of the two countries also.

Visit of Spanish Ambassador on board INS Mumbai, in July 2012

Support ship and the next generation submarine P75I - an Air Independent Propulsion Vessel, that makes it highly undetectable and discreet. It is a nonnuclear vessel. Spain is already building frigates and Aircraft carriers for Brazil, Australia and Norway with complete transfer of technology which is the corner store of Indias defence development policy and hopes to replicate that for India too. AIR FORCE PROJECTS Spanish company EADS CASA, has been selected for the supply of six air refuelling aircrafts (A330) for the Indian Air Force. To fulfil the need to replace the Avros EADS CASA, are pitching with their C-295 model. SUPPLY OF RADARS AND INDRA, the premier technology company of Spain and a leading multinational worldwide, is already supplying radars for Indian aviation industry. INDRA has projected that in the coming years more than 80% of the Indian Airspace will be covered by its radars. It has also developed the Automatic farecollection system for Delhi Airport Metro Express Ltd. as well as the Toll

Management System on different Indian Highways. Kolkatas Metro Automatic fare collection is also part of INDRAs projects portfolio. OTHER DEFENCE COMPANIES PRESENT IN INDIA Other Defence companies present in India are: SAES (Anonimous Society of Submarine Electronics) - specialists in underwater technologies, including sea mines and underwater sensors, EXPAL/ MAXAM: Involved in programs of the Army - proximity fuses - in particular. Some programs are implanted, and some are about to be tendered, SENER: Is working with the R&D projects in Defence, AIRBUS Military is offering Air Refueling Platform for the Indian Air Force, and CASSIDIAN: Is involved in a joint venture with HAL for the LCA version for the Navy. SENSITVE AREAS OF COLLABORATION In the world of growing Radical Islam Spain is also willing to share intelligence with India. Spains Defence Attach, Jose Meca Rodriguez de Rivera said Indias presence in the Af-Pak region makes it the first barrier to stop terrorist groups moving towards Europe. It will be great

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Among other areas, Spanish company ISOLUX is currently developing 4 highways in India. Grupo ACS was awarded the construction and management of a terminal in the port of Mumbai for 30 years. Mumbai is the port with the greatest maritime traffic in India. COBRA a Spanish company is working in several electricity transmission projects in New Delhi, Punjab and Kashmir. Grupo SAN JOS is now, among other projects under construction, designing and building 11 Stations of Metro Line 1 of Navi Mumbai-Bombay. ALDESA has bagged a Rs.3,300 crore civil works contract to build a rail track between Bhaupur and Khurja in Uttar Pradesh, a 343-km segment of the dedicated eastern freight corridor. The works started in April this current year. 12TH LARGEST INVESTOR Today Spain has become the 12th largest investor in India according to the figures provided by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Spain has made a cumulative investment of $1,574.8 million in India since 2001. At the moment more than 200 different Spanish companies are based in India. Spanish companies started coming to India in the second half of the 1990s, but the real explosion took place from 2008. Then there were only about 70 Spanish companies based in India, three times less than the number at which they stand today. HIGH LEVEL VISITS Spain has been a late entrant in economic and technological bilateral relations with India. It was only in 1956 that the two countries established diplomatic relations between them. The Spanish Embassy was opened in India with concurrent accreditation of our High Commissioner to London as Ambassador to Spain in 1958. A Mission headed by a charge daffaires opened in Madrid the same year. However, it was only in 1965 that the first resident

Ambassador of India was appointed to Spain. High level visits have increased in recent years. Former President, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil visited Spain in 2009 on invitation from the King of Spain. This was the first ever State level visit from India to Spain. During the visit three MOUs on cooperation in the fields of Agriculture, Renewable energy and Tourism were signed and seven areas infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, cooperation in Latin America, renewable energy, SMEs and research and development in Science and Technology were identified as focus areas for strengthening bilateral cooperation. The visit was reciprocated by the King of Spain, His Majesty Juan Carlos 1, in 2012. The King was accompanied by a High level delegation that included Spanish Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Industry, Energy, Tourism, Infrastructure and Transport. The delegation also included senior government officials and CEOs of about 20 top-notch Spanish companies. The King and his delegation visited both New Delhi and Mumbai and attended meetings jointly organized by CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM. A Round Table on India-Spain multilateral partnership was held and the Railway sector came in for special focus at this roundtable. OTHER INTERESTS According to Indian Ambassador to Spain, Sunil Lal, India-Spain economic relations have grown substantially but they are below potential. It is appropriate time to launch sector- specific approaches to expand trade and investment in the coming years. There are about 30 Indian companies in Spain in the fields of IT, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and road maintenance. Indias total investment in Spain is at Euro 687 million. Spain is among the world leaders in solar thermal and wind energy technology. Solar energy production cost has

come down and is expected to reach levels close to fossil fuels in the coming years. Spains Gas Natural Fenosa, a leading multi-national in the gas/ electricity sector has recently signed a Euro one billion deal with GAIL India to supply approximately 3 billion cubic meters of Liquefied Natural Gas to India spread over three years. Recently Avantha Group has bought a Basque company (region of Spain) for Euro 150 million to incorporate its expertise in smart power grid systems. Spain also has technology in water desalination and city waste management. Their company ABENGOA has a major project in Chennai. There is great potential to collaborate in this field. Spain also has know how in biotechnology, agriculture, aquaculture, dairy products and green house farming. Spain exports large quantities of vegetables, fruits and juices to the European Union. This is another potential area for collaboration. DEEP CULTURAL TIES An interesting aspect in the bilateral relations is Spanish Royal Familys special affinity towards India. The present king had spent his honeymoon in India in 1962. Queen Sofia and her sister, Princess Irene are keen students of Indian philosophy and have visited India many times. Their mother, the late Queen Fredericka of Greece, was strongly influenced by Aurobindos philosophy and spent nearly 13 years in India after the overthrow of the Greek monarchy. Casa de la India (House of India) is a Spanish foundation dedicated to promotion of Indian culture in Spain. Spanish educationist Prof Jose Paz Rodriguez donated his entire collection of 30000 books, CDs and paintings on Rabindranath Tagore to Casa de la India. The collection includes rare first editions of Tagores works in Bengali. The auditoriums in Casa Asia both in Barcelona and Madrid are named after Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

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