The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India and Malta are growing at a steady pace and if we can work together, both can certainly grow faster. He was making the joint Press Statement following delegation level talks with the President of Malta, Ms. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, at San Anton Palace, Halbalzan, Malta today. The Minister of State for Finance, Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla, the High Commissioner of India to Malta, Shri Rajesh Vaishnaw and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.The Vice President said that diplomatic relations between India and Malta were established soon after the independence of Malta and India see Malta as one of the most trusted partners within the EU. He further said that India was one of the first countries to recognize independence of Malta and now, we have taken the decision to open a resident mission in Malta in order to scale up our relationship.
Saying both economies are complimentary and technology based, the Vice President said that India and Malta need to bolster relationship with far more substantive cooperation on the economic, scientific and technological, human resource development fronts. Malta can take the advantage of India’s highly skilled professionals in the field of IT, financial services, health, pharmaceuticals, transport, freight and tourism, he added.The Vice President said that India and Malta have signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in the field of (i) Maritime Cooperation; (ii) Diplomatic Training; and (iii) Tourism Cooperation. It is a good beginning in creating a modern, enabling framework for enhancing relations between both the countries, he added.The Vice President said that both the Governments should work towards facilitating easy mobility of professionals on both sides. I strongly believe this will certainly go a long way in further strengthening the ties and accelerate progress and growth in both our countries, he added.The Vice President thanked Malta for the assistance provided in the evacuation of Indians from Libya. He also conveyed his best wishes to the people of our friendly country Malta for the upcoming National Day of Malta.