BILATERAL TIES

Diplomatic relations between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of India were signed in 1999. Following the establishment of these relations, the government of the Dominican Republic opened a permanent mission in New Delhi in 2006.

The opening in 2022 of the Indian Embassy in Dominican Republic, and the historic visit to Santo Domingo for its inauguration of Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the bilateral relation and the strengthening of ties between the two countries.

The Dominican Republic and India share democratic institutions, adherence to the rule of law, the principle of solidarity, and the respect of the United Nations charter and international law. These values ​​constitute the foundations of our bilateral relationship and guide our cooperation at the multilateral level.

A fruitful collaboration in the United Nations and in other international forums has led to exchanges of support and common positions. Both countries recognize the need for a renewed global order that takes into account the potential of South-South relations and the urgency to act together to preserve the future of the planet through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructures.

Frequent visits by dignitaries, senior officials, and delegations from one country to the other are a testimony of the dynamism of our bilateral engagements. In 2006, the Minister of External Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Carlos Morales Troncoso, led a delegation to India that included the ministers in charge of the promotion of exports and investments, higher education, science and technology, as well as the vice minister of tourism. President Leonel Fernández made the first official visit of a Dominican head of state to India in February 2011. More recently, in October 2023, the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Raquel Peña, made an official visit to New Delhi.

Ministers of State for Foreign Affairs of India, Rao Inderjit Singh, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, V.K. Singh and Shri V. Muraleedharan visited the Dominican Republic in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2016 and 2019, respectively. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Pabitra Margherita visited the Dominican Republic in august 2024 to attend the inauguration of the second mandate of President Luis Abinader Corona.

Training and exchange of good practices have constituted the two main axes of the cooperation between India and the Dominican Republic. Both parties have expressed their willingness to continue working together and have agreed, since 2021, to develop new cooperation initiatives in the fields of meteorology, oceanography, health, higher education and defence, amongst others.

Within the framework of the ITEC program, Dominican professionals have been receiving training in Indian institutions in various disciplines. Since the end of the COVID pandemic, more than 80 Dominican professionals have travelled to India for courses on cybersecurity, remote sensing and artificial intelligence  under the ITEC scheme; military training under ITEC-Defence; on nano satellites under the UNNATI program; and on green hydrogen and solar technologies with the International Solar Alliance capacity building initiatives. In September 2024, the second special course for Dominican diplomats was held in the Sushma Swaraj Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India

A Center of Excellence for Information Technologies set up in 2011 in Santiago, with the support of the Indian government, operated with three Indian instructors for a period of two years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government of India donated medicines and materials to the Dominican Republic to strengthen its ability to deal with the virus.

Since 2021, a fruitful collaboration with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructures has resulted in the implementation of several cooperation initiatives. These include the strengthening of early warning system, the improvement of the resilience of educational infrastructures, and the evaluation of the state of critical infrastructure in the Dominican Republic.

Bilateral trade has shown sustained growth in the last decade, reaching in 2024 a record of over 1 100 million dollars, with a positive balance for the Dominican Republic. The Indian market has established itself over the years as one of the principal destination for Dominican Republic exports.

The main products exported by the Dominican Republic to India in 2024 were gold, cocoa beans, carton for recycling, aluminium and aluminium products. The same year, India sold in the Dominican Republic pharmaceutical products, passenger cars, motorcycles, ceramic articles and crustaceans, amongst other products.