External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has sent greetings to Venezuela on its National Day, directly tagging Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil in a post on the social media platform X and voicing India's interest in deepening ties between the two countries.
What the message said
Posting from his handle @DrSJaishankar, Jaishankar addressed Foreign Minister Yvan Gil at his handle @yvangil, along with the government and people of Venezuela. His message read:
Warm wishes to Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, the Government and the people of Venezuela on their National Day. We look forward to further strengthening the engagement between our two countries.
The post also carried emojis of the Indian and Venezuelan flags, a touch commonly seen in diplomatic greeting messages.
Recent activity between India and Venezuela
The greeting comes amid a series of developments between the two countries over the past few weeks. After an earthquake struck Venezuela, the Indian Army set up a field hospital under Operation Amistad that has been offering free medical services around the clock. According to news reports, the professionalism of the Indian teams deployed there has drawn praise in Venezuela. Before that, Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez had travelled to India on a five day working visit aimed at deepening ties between the two nations. Separately, Venezuela has also been reshuffling its foreign relationships as its oil production grows.
What it signals
By speaking of deepening engagement, Jaishankar has signalled India's intent to further strengthen ties with Venezuela. His post, however, does not mention any concrete plan, agreement or upcoming visit. Even so, coming right after the Acting President's visit to India and the Indian Army's earthquake relief effort, the message is being seen as another marker of the two countries' growing contact.
