Dominican Republic–India relations are the international relations that exist between the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Dominican Republic maintains an embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. Since January 2022, India maintains an embassy in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

History

The Dominican Republic and India established diplomatic relations in May 1999. The countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Santo Domingo in May 2001 agreeing to hold regular Foreign Office consultations. During the visit of Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh visiting to the Dominican Republic in September 2004, the Dominican Republic Government announced that it would open an embassy in New Delhi. DR Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, several other ministers, and business delegates visited Delhi, Agra, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai in February 2006. During the visit, the two countries signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation in Delhi on 17 February 2006. The Dominican Republic opened its embassy in New Delhi on 1 May 2006. The current Ambassador of Dominican Republic to India, Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, also serves as the Dean of Diplomatic Corps. DR President

Leonel Fernandez Leonel is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Leonel Altobelli (born 1986), Argentine footballer * Leonel Álvarez (born 1965), former Colombian football defensive midfielder * Leonel Bastos or Lionel Bastos, singer, songwriter and ...

visited India to attend the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit in February 2011. He also met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Foreign Minister, and several Indian businessmen. Fernandez addressed the Indian Council of World Affairs, and seminars organized by

FICCI The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India. History Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla an ...

and CII in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. From India, the highest level visits to the Dominican Republic have been at the level of minister of state. Ministers of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma,

Shashi Tharoor Shashi Tharoor (; ; born 9 March 1956 in London, England ) is an Indian former international civil servant, diplomat, bureaucrat and politician, writer and public intellectual who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, ...

, and General V.K. Singh visited the country in February 2007, January 2010, and February 2015 respectively. During Singh's visit, the two countries signed an MoU on co-operation in renewable energy. The Dominican Republic and India were among the first 19 countries to join the

International Solar Alliance The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of 123 signatory countries, most being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The primary objective of the allia ...

, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 15 November 2016. On 30 December 2020, the

Union Cabinet of India The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

approved the opening an embassy in

Trade

Bilateral trade Bilateral trade or clearing trade is trade exclusively between two states, particularly, barter trade based on bilateral deals between governments, and without using hard currency for payment. Bilateral trade agreements often aim to keep trade def ...

between the Dominican Republic and India totaled US$431.57 million in 2014-15. India exported $140.91 million worth of goods to the Dominican Republic, and imported $290.66 million. The main commodities exported by India to the Dominican Republic are cotton textiles and readymade garments, drugs and pharmaceuticals, furniture, transport equipment, manufactures of metals, chemicals, plastic and

linoleum Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canva ...

products, tea, processed foods and marine products. The major commodities imported by India from the Dominican Republic are tobacco, pearls, precious stones, semi-precious stones, jewels, and coins. The Dominican Republic and India signed an Air Services Agreement to begin scheduled commercial flights between the two countries on 19 October 2011. Indian IT firm signed an MoU with Cyber Park, Santo Domingo to establish IT training centre at the park. MANN India established a BPO at the Cyberpark, Santo Domingo. Bajaj retails two-wheelers in the Dominican Republic. Indian pharmaceutical firms Claris Life Sciences Ltd. and Micro-Labs have a representative offices in Santo Domingo. Claris had a revenue of over $1 million in the country in 2011. Caplin Point sources medicines in bulk from India and retails them in the Dominican Republic.

Brugal Brugal is the name and brand of a variety of rums from the Dominican Republic produced by Brugal & Co., C. por A. Brugal and the other Dominican rums, Barceló and Bermúdez, are collectively known as the three B's. Brugal has three distilleries ...

, the Dominican Republic's largest rum distiller, acquired distillery units from Praj Industries, Pune.

Foreign aid

India donated $50,000 worth of life saving drugs to the Dominican Republic in March 2006. At the request of the DR Government, India donated medicines to provide relief in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Noel in October–November 2007. India and the Dominican Republic signed an MoU to establish an IT Centre of excellence with Indian assistance in January 2010. The Centre was inaugurated by the DR President in August 2011. The Centre was operated by CDAC India with three Indian faculty members for the initial two-year period, before it was handed over to Dominican authorities. Since 1999, citizens of the Dominican Republic are eligible for scholarships under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme. They are also eligible for

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...

scholarships. Several DR diplomats have also attended the PCFD programme run by the Foreign Service Institute.

Embassy of India, Santo Domingo

The Embassy of India in Santo Domingo is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

of the Republic of India to the

. It was officially opened on 1 January 2022. It is currently functioning from Homewood Suites by Hilton.

History

The Dominican Republic has been under the jurisdiction of Embassy of India in Havana. Plan to set up a new resident embassy in Santo Domingo was announced on December 30, 2020.

Ambassador

Abbagani Ramu is the current Indian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

Cultural relations

The Dominican Republic and India signed a bilateral agreement on cultural co-operation in August 2012. Indian food festivals were held in Santo Domingo in October 2013, and in March and October 2014. DR Television broadcast an Indian film festival during April 2014. As of January 2016, about 50 Indian citizens and people of Indian origin reside in the Dominican Republic. They are employed as businessmen, engineers, and software experts. There are also students at medical colleges and representatives of Indian companies. Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi has some followers in the Dominican Republic. A large number of Dominican visitors to India are followers of Sai Baba.i In February 2017,

Miss Dominican Republic Miss Dominican Republic (Spanish: ''Miss República Dominicana'') is a national beauty pageant in the Dominican Republic. History Amelia Vega, Miss Universe 2003 winner. Miss Dominican Republic Organization has been in operation since 1927 ...

contestant Shaderska Valdez and another model became the first Dominicans to walk the ramp at the

Lakme Fashion Week Lakmé Fashion Week is a bi-annual fashion week which takes place in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Its ''Summer-Resort'' show takes place in April while the ''Winter-Festive'' show takes place in August. History The event first took place in 1 ...

Summer/Resort 2017 in Mumbai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominican Republic-India relations

Bilateral relations of India