New Delhi [India], July 31 – India on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to multilateral cooperation by extending full support to Panama’s upcoming presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), scheduled for August 2025.
Carlos Arturo Hoyos, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, led a high-level delegation to New Delhi, where he held bilateral consultations with Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West) at India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The talks focused on United Nations-related matters, including Panama’s role in the Security Council during its presidency next month.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the meeting as “useful consultations” and wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “India wishes Panama a productive Presidency of the UN Security Council in August 2025.”
Panama is currently serving as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2025–2026 term. It was elected in June alongside Pakistan, Denmark, Greece, and Somalia to fill rotating two-year seats.
The UN Security Council has 15 members—five permanent (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US) and ten non-permanent members elected by the UN General Assembly. The current non-permanent members include Algeria, Guyana, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia, in addition to the new entrants.
Panama Reaffirms Support for India on Terrorism
This week’s dialogue in New Delhi builds on growing India-Panama ties, especially after Panama’s strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2025, which killed 26 people.
During Indian MP Shashi Tharoor’s visit to Panama earlier this year, Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martinez Acha had expressed unwavering support for India in the global fight against terrorism.
“Your visit represents more than you can imagine: Panama’s commitment to fighting terrorism and standing with India,” Acha had said. “Any country that serves as a safe haven for terrorists should be condemned.”
Acha also expressed interest in visiting India and hinted at the possibility of a high-level exchange between the two countries, potentially involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of Panama. “We have a promise from my good friend Mr. Tharoor that Prime Minister Modi will come to Panama soon,” he noted.
Background: India–Panama Relations
India and Panama established diplomatic relations in 1962, and the two countries have shared consistently warm ties. Panama maintains a resident embassy in New Delhi and appointed a Consul General in Mumbai in 2018.
With shared democratic values and cooperation in international forums like the UN, the two nations are gradually expanding their political dialogue, especially on issues of global security, anti-terrorism, and trade diplomacy.