Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Goa government is organizing the International Lusophone Festival in Goa from 3-6 December.
Key points
- The Lusophone festival seeks to further India’s connect with the Lusophone world.
- Goa has had historical linkages with the Lusophone world, which has been nurtured through the presence of Portuguese cultural institutions.
- This has deepened India’s economic, cultural co-operation and people-to-people ties with the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) member countries.
About CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries)
- The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa) also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (Comunidade Lusofona), is a multilateral forum, founded on 17 July 1996 at the 1st CPLP Heads of State & Government Summit in Lisbon.
- The founding members were Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe.
- Timor Leste and Equatorial Guinea joined later.
- India joined CPLP as an associate observer in July 2021.
- As part of India’s engagement with CPLP, the Ministry of External Affairs celebrated the World Portuguese Language Day on 5th May, 2022, soon after joining CPLP.
