San Jose, Aug 27 (IANS) India and Costa Rica discussed avenues to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, including ongoing initiatives and new areas of collaboration.

The discussions were held during a meeting between India's Charge d'Affaires to Costa Rica, Aakash Sharma, and Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Bilateral Affairs and International Cooperation, Penaranda Zarate, according to the statement released by the Indian Embassy in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Aakash Sharma held a meeting with Zarate Alejandra Solano Cabalceta, Director, Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica, with discussions held on various multilateral fora.

Sharing details regarding the meeting, the Indian Embassy in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica stated, "The discussions covered ongoing cooperation across various multilateral fora, while also identifying areas of shared interest and convergence. Both sides expressed keen interest in further deepening India-Costa Rica engagement."

Sharma also met Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Finance Victor Julio Carvajal Porras, with discussions held on possibilities for implementing Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) and 10 years of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India.

"Charge d’Affaires a.i. Shri Aakash Sharma met the Vice Minister of Finance, H.E. Mr. Víctor Julio Carvajal Porras. The discussions focused on: Possibilities for implementing Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) in Costa Rica. The 10-year milestone of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India. Further, the Cd’A briefed the Vice Minister on important Cabinet decisions and recent Government of India initiatives," the Indian Embassy in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica wrote on X.

On Tuesday, Sharma held a meeting with Head of Scholarships Division, Carolina Fernandez Alvarez at Costa Rica’s Foreign Ministry.

"Both sides took stock of how professionals are benefiting from India’s scholarship offerings. There was discussion on ways to raise awareness of these capacity-building opportunities," the Embassy posted on X.

India and Costa Rica share cordial and warm relations, which are being strengthened by the growing commercial engagement between the two countries, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement. In recent years, bilateral relations have gained fresh momentum.

The first-ever high-level visit from India to Costa Rica took place in March 2019, when the Vice-President of India visited San Jose, opening up new avenues of cooperation. Since then, engagement has broadened across multilateral, economic, scientific and cultural domains.

--IANS

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