New Delhi, March 14 Top officials from India and Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday exchanged views on regional and global issues, and agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation across various sectors in the second Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between the two countries.
Held in the national capital, the consultations were co-chaired by Sevala Naik Mude, Additional Secretary (Central & West Africa), from the Indian side, and Filbert Kouassi Gleglaud, Director General of Bilateral Relations, from Cote d'Ivoire.
The two sides reviewed bilateral relations, including political exchanges, trade and investments, development partnership, capacity building, culture and people-to-people linkages, consular matters, and defence and security cooperation.
They also "exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and agreed to enhance their cooperation in the multilateral fora", a Ministry of External Affairs release said on Thursday.
In addition, the potential for cooperation in the agriculture, film and television sectors also came up for discussion.
India and Cote d'Ivoire share long-standing ties of friendship and collaboration with the bilateral trade between the two nations growing steadily during the last three years. It reached $1,552.97 million during 2022-23, from $1,197.4 million in 2021-22.
India has extended lines of credit worth $207.80 million to Cote d'Ivoire for projects in agriculture, road transport, IT, power, and many other sectors.
As both sides agreed to continue engagements, including through institutional mechanisms, the next round of FOC will be held in Abidjan at a mutually convenient date, an official said.
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