India offers $200,000 to Guatemala for disaster relief

NEW DELHI: India today announced an assistance of $200,000 for Guatemala as disaster relief to deal with the ongoing drought in the country.

The announcement was made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at a meeting here with her Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Raul Morales Moscoso during which the two sides discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations including political, economic and commercial, consular and cultural issues.

They also discussed important regional and multilateral issues, including India's ongoing engagement with Community of Latin American Caribbean States (CELAC) and Central American Integration System (SICA), an official release said.

The visit of the Guatemalan Foreign Minister coincides with the India-LAC Investment Conclave being held on October 15-16 for which the Minister for Economy of Guatemala, Sergio de la Torre, is in India along with a business delegation.

The Minister for Economy and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rodrigo Vielmann, also participated in the bilateral meetings.

According to the release, the participation of the high- level delegation accompanied by Guatemalan businessmen in the India-LAC Investment Conclave was expected to further strengthen the ties between the two countries.