India and Albania hold positive bilateral consultations

India and Albania held Bilateral Consultations in Tirana on October 31. The Indian side was led by Arun Kumar Sahu, Additional Secretary (Central Europe), Ministry of External Affairs. The Albanian side was led by Endrit Yzeiraj, Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania.

In a post on X the Ministry of External Affairs said, ” Both sides discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.. India opened its resident Mission in Albania in August 2024.”

During the Consultations, both sides undertook a comprehensive review of bilateral, regional, and international issues. Bilateral discussions included political relations, trade, cultural relations, and people-to-people contacts.

Discussions also covered cooperation between the two countries in the international arena. Both sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

The Additional Secretary (Central Europe) also met with Olta Manjani, Albania’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation. During the meeting, both sides discussed issues such as trade, investment, tourism, and cultural exchanges and relations.

India and Albania established diplomatic relations in 1956. At present, the bilateral relations between India and Albania are characterized by their positive, amicable, and future-oriented nature. Additionally, both nations engage in cooperative endeavors within various multilateral forums.

The bilateral trade has been seeing a rise in the last five years. The main trade items include petroleum products, engineering goods, drugs and pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, plastering materials, lime, and cement amongst others.

The two countries have various interactions with each other such as cultural exchange programs, ITEC scholarship program by India for Albania and the celebration of the International Yoga Day in the country amongst various other exchanges.

The recent high-level interactions between the two countries include External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meeting the Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi on February 22, 2024, and the participation of Albana Tole, Deputy Minister of Education and Sports of Albania in the Voice of Global South Summit held on November 14 in 2023.