News Highlight
- India prioritises engaging the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking countries) world to maximise potential.
Key Takeaway
- The Lusophone world is spread over nine countries across four continents, and Portuguese is the most widely-spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere.
India Connects with the Lusophone world.
- About
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in partnership with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Government of Goa, is organising the International Lusophone Festival in Goa from 3-6 December 2022.
- The festival seeks to further India’s connection with the Lusophone world.
- Goa has had historical linkages with the Lusophone world.
- It has grown due to the presence of Portuguese cultural institutions such as the Orient Foundation and the Camoes Institute.
- It promotes the Portuguese language and culture in India.
- This has strengthened our economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties with member countries of the Community of Portuguese Language (CPLC).
Lusophone World
- What is Lusophone?
- Lusophones are people who speak the Portuguese language, either as native speakers or as learners.
- The Lusophone world consists of countries with Portuguese as their official language colonised by the Portuguese.
- Portuguese is the world’s sixth most spoken language, with 270 million native speakers.
- The Lusophone world is mainly a legacy of the Portuguese Empire.
- The corresponding countries retain cultural and political affinities even after the empire’s demise.
- It manifested itself in establishing the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC) in 1996.
Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC)
- About CPLC
- The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, is a multilateral forum established on 17 July 1996.
- The founding members were Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome e Principe, while Timor Leste and Equatorial Guinea joined later.
- India joined CPLC as an associate observer in July 2021.
- World Portuguese Language Day was observed in Delhi on May 5, 2022, as part of India’s involvement with CPLC, shortly after India joined CPLC.
- India already offers training to all CPLC member states, except Portugal, under the ITEC and IAFS frameworks.
- People-to-people connections will be improved by offering technical help and capacity-building support to CPLC countries.
- India’s technology innovations in e-commerce, digital payment systems, and e-governance should be shared with CPLC nations for mutual gain.
- The Soft Power of Science and Technology, Heritage and Culture
- India’s constructed heritage and architecture bear the deep stamp of Portugal’s 451-year colonial rule.
- It indicates a strong bond with other Portuguese colonies.
- Numerous imposing forts, religious buildings, and colonial cities dot India’s western coast, bearing evidence of centuries of lusophone influence.
- In 2006, the Association of the Portuguese-Speaking Olympic Associations accepted the Indian Olympic Association as a member.
- Dozens of Portuguese-speaking football coaches and players
- now work in India, Portugal and Brazil.
- They play a tremendous role in developing the needed infrastructure and skills for Indian youth to excel globally.
Conclusion
- The idea of a Lusophone partnership for India is gaining prominence, trilateral cooperation via “Portuguese-speaking niche diplomacy”.
- It can help deepen India’s ties with the nine countries in the community.
- Despite divergent foreign policy trajectories, India and Portugal currently have a tremendous opportunity to strategically frame their bilateral relationship in the context of the Portuguese-speaking countries and regions of influence.
Pic Courtesy: Indian Express
Content Source: Indian Express