New Delhi [India], July 10 : Morocco's Ambassador to India, Mohamed Maliki, underscored the expanding scope of India-Morocco relations during a wide-ranging interaction in the national capital.
Highlighting deepening cooperation in trade, defence, investment, counter-terrorism, and beyond, he outlined key areas of collaboration and ambitious plans for the future.
"I think the sky is not even the limit for us... because we believe in making India, we believe in the capabilities of India, we believe in the development that India is having, both in industry and in the top technologies," he said.
Speaking about the current momentum in bilateral ties, Maliki said, "As an ambassador, I would--if I say they are in the best manner--I would fail my trip, because I need to have good reasons to develop them further. But I could say with assurance that we are in a momentous moment of our lives. We have come so far from where we were, and I think there is--there are--enough reasons to believe that we have good strategic relations."
He pointed out that both nations have complementary strengths, citing India's contribution to Morocco's industrial development and IT sector, while Morocco plays a role in food security. Maliki also suggested the potential for joint initiatives in Africa, noting that Morocco holds the second-largest investment position on the continent.
"We have that experience which we can use together and then why can't we use it to launch initiatives in the developments for Africa for the future," he said.
Addressing trade and investment, Maliki said Moroccan companies are already present in India, particularly in pharmaceuticals and fertilisers. He emphasised growing cooperation in sectors such as automotive, recycling, mining, renewable energy, maritime infrastructure, and human resource development.
"We are looking into training for the ITs, but also for the industry," he noted. "We are two great maritime nations and that would of course give us very important collaboration to be together for the security of the maritime, for the counter-terrorism, for the human trafficking."
On India-Morocco cooperation in combating terrorism, Maliki said both countries are collaborating effectively and discreetly. "We are all suffering from a scourge of terrorism, and then that is a very good area where only international cooperation could help in reducing the effects of this," he said.
He shared Morocco's three-pronged approach to counter-terrorism: "That is the social development, and then the intelligence, development of intelligence, but also the education, the training of imams. So on this side, I am happy to say that few of the around 40 imams from India are in Morocco for the tolerance. I believe unless there is a serious international collaboration, because terrorism no longer knows the limits of the borders, so there is necessity for all of us to collaborate and then to combat collectively this scourge, and then for that we have a very good cooperation with India, which I cannot of course reveal. Still, I think it's one of the good ones. "
On the issue of the Western Sahara, Maliki reaffirmed Morocco's sovereignty over the region. "It's a matter of territorial integrity, a matter of national sovereignty. Many countries, including three of the members of the Security Council, found the Moroccan initiative to be the most reliable to solve this problem."
He acknowledged India's support for the UN Security Council process and added, "We definitely hope that all countries will join in supporting this initiative."
Touching on the situation in West Asia, Maliki said, "What's happening, of course, in the Middle East is regrettable, and we hope that the reason will prevail... We need to work a little bit more on the morality of humankind to bring it back." He also emphasised the importance of reinvigorating faith in multilateralism and the United Nations.
Commenting on visa facilitation, Maliki said the e-visa regime has already made a big difference. "There is a very important jump in numbers from Morocco, significant growth. Moroccans also come here for different reasons, for training, or just to see the historical sites, because the diversity in India is fascinating."
He added, "I expect a very jump in the number of tourists. I hope we'll reach a very good critical number, which will allow us to discuss in terms of direct flights."
While ruling out the establishment of new consulates in near future, he confirmed that Morocco has honorary consulates in West Bengal, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, and visa outsourcing arrangements are helping to bring services closer to the people.