Spanish PM Sanchez in India to boost trade ties

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was welcomed to India Monday with a flower-filled open-top parade alongside counterpart Narendra Modi as Madrid seeks to boost investment in the world’s fifth-largest economy.

The duo waved to crowds in a vehicle smothered in orange marigold garlands on their way to inaugurate a military aircraft factory, a collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus, in Vadodara in Gujarat state.

It is the first visit by a Spanish premier to India in 18 years, with cooperation agreements signed, including on infrastructure, railways, and renewable energy projects.

India’s defense ministry agreed to a $2.5 billion deal for 56 cargo and troop-carrying C295 aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space in 2021.

While 16 will be assembled in Seville in Spain — with the first deliveries made last year — the 40 remaining will be built in India.

The Indian plant in Vadodara will complete the first “Made in India” C295 aircraft in 2026.