Dominican Republic Vice President to visit India from 3-5 October to mark 25 years of bilateral ties

The Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Raquel Peña Rodríguez will visit India from October 3-5, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The Dominican Republic Vice President is set to visit India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Jagdeep Dhankhar. This will be the first-ever visit of the Vice President of the Dominican Republic to India. “The visit is significant as it takes place at a time when India-Dominican Republic bilateral relationship is entering its 25th year. The two countries established diplomatic relations on 04 May 1999,” the MEA said in an official release. She will also hold discussions with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and other Indian dignitaries, and will also deliver a lecture on India- Dominican Republic relations at the Indian Council for World Affairs. Diplomatic relations between India and Dominican Republic were established in May, 1999. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in May 2001 in Santo Domingo to hold regular Foreign Office consultations. Dominican Republic is an important partner of India in the Latin America and Caribbean region. The visit of the Vice President of the Dominican Republic comes closely on the heels of that of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to that country in April 2023, the MEA release added. India’s exports to the Dominican Republic are small but growing. Training and exchange of good practices have constituted the two main axes of cooperation between India and the Dominican Republic. Both nations have expressed willingness to continue working together and identify new initiatives. Within the framework of the ITEC program, Dominican professionals have been receiving training since 1999 in Indian institutions in various disciplines. A Centre of Excellence for Information Technologies set up in 2011 in Santiago, with the support of the Indian government, operated with three Indian instructors for a period of two years. The visit of the Dominican Republic Vice President Raquel Peña Rodríguez to India will present an additional chance to carry on important conversations to further develop and widen the mutually beneficial partnership between the two nations.