LUSOPHONE WORLD

Description

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Context: The International Lusophone Festival kicked off at the Raj Bhavan, in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and MoS Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi.

Details:

What is the Lusophone world?

The Lusophone world is spread in nine countries across four continents, and Portuguese is the most widely-spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere.
Portuguese is one of the official languages of the continental organisations: African Union, Organization of American States, European Union and of multiple regional organisations, as well as official language of UNESCO General Conference.
More than 265-million speakers worldwide; most widely spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere; regarded as the language of the first globalisation in the modern era.

Importance for India:

Officials feel that from Vasco da Gama onwards, India’s Portuguese connection has not been diplomatically leveraged.
There is huge potential to expand and strengthen trade and economic collaboration between India and Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) countries.
India’s engagement in the CPLP could be a substantial force multiplier for expanded cooperation in cutting-edge fields of technology, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, and materials science for post-Covid recovery and resilience.
The future of CPLP cooperation lies in strategic areas like the blue economy, renewable energy, defence, connectivity, mobility and trade, which are also focus areas for the Indian economy
India already offers training to all CPLP member states, except Portugal, under the ITEC and IAFS frameworks.
Indian assistance to several countries, including CPLP, to cope with the pandemic through supplies of medicines, medical equipment, vaccines and other Covid-related support.
India has offered a ‘transfer of technology’ for manufacturing of its indigenously developed vaccine Covaxinin interested countries.
The celebration of the World Portuguese Language Day and the cultural festival were part of India’s commitment to the CPLP while joining as an associate observer last year

Economic aspect:

Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking countries) economies are among the fastest-growing in the world, with Brazil, Angola, Portugal, Mozambique being some of them.
India’s trade with the Lusophone world has grown six-fold in the last decade.
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) or Lusophone Commonwealth, was founded in 1996 in Lisbon, with Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe as members; while Timor Leste and Equatorial Guinea joined later.
These countries comprise approximately 300-million people across four continents (Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe). India joined CPLP as an associate observer only in July 2021.