Nebrija University held a conference on April 27th entitled "Spain and India, Beyond the Dual Year." The event, which took place at the university's Polytechnic and Social Sciences Campus in Madrid, featured Berta Fuertes Ferragut, director of the Spain-India Council Foundation, in a round table discussion that also included Guillermo Rodríguez Martín, director of Casa de la India, and María Gil Bürmann, director of the Cervantes Institute in New Delhi. The opening remarks were delivered by Adela Alija Garabito, director of the Department of International Relations at Nebrija University, and the discussion was moderated by Carlos López Gómez, a professor in the same department.
In her address, the director of the Spain-India Council Foundation emphasized that "India is no longer the country of the future. We've heard that many times. The reality is that India is already one of the countries shaping the present." As fundamental elements of this leadership, he highlighted political stability, with a consolidated leadership following Narendra Modi's third term; the sustained growth of its economy; and an increasingly active international presence "with a clear ambition to play a more relevant role."
For this reason, he emphasized, "the Spain-India Dual Year is not simply an agenda of activities. It is, in fact, a very conscious decision by both governments to try to take a leap forward in a relationship that is good, but which is clearly below its potential." In this context, the work of the Spain-India Council Foundation is "to help make the relationship between Spain and India more intense, more structured, and more useful" by creating spaces for dialogue, programs such as the Leaders program, and reports that help to better understand "where the opportunities lie... and also the difficulties of the relationship."
Nebrija University highlights that the current state of international relations makes India a player of great interest due to its economic and demographic growth, as well as the multifaceted nature of its foreign policy. In this sense, the celebration of the Spain-India Dual Year 2026 reflects the interest in deepening bilateral relations that have traditionally been a low priority, and has allowed for a significant increase in contacts between the two countries.
The event at Nebrija University served as a forum to reflect on bilateral relations and the efforts and actions undertaken by both sides to achieve better interaction and mutual understanding, in cultural, political, and economic spheres.
More information is available on the Nebrija University website
