“[The] Agreement between the Portuguese Republic and the Republic of India on the recruitment of Indian citizens for work in the Portuguese Republic, signed in Lisbon, on 13 September 2021, has been approved”, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers.

The agreement between Portugal and India defined “the procedures for the admission of Indian citizens to carry out a professional activity, under an employment contract, in the territory of the Portuguese Republic”.

This bilateral agreement aims to facilitate "legal and safe labour migration flows between the two countries", establishing the procedures for Indian citizens to carry out a professional activity, under an employment contract, in Portugal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained to Lusa.

The same source had also disclosed that the negotiation of the agreement on the legal immigration of Moroccan workers to Portugal is “at an advanced stage” and the final text could be closed at a meeting this month.

The negotiation of the agreement was announced by the Government after, at the end of 2019, cases began to arise of Moroccans trying to land illegally on the Algarve coast, raising suspicions of a new route of illegal migration.

Audiovisual productions

The Council of Ministers has also approved an agreement between Portugal and India on “audiovisual co-production” signed in New Delhi on February 14, 2020.

“This agreement has as the objective of cooperation between Portugal and India in the audiovisual sector, and thus to promote and facilitate the co-production of films between both States”.

“The agreement establishes the conditions for the recognition of films co-produced by Portuguese and Indian producers as films equivalent to national films, for the purposes foreseen therein”.

The Government also approved the international agreement with Andorra for “cooperation in the fields of culture, education, tourism and e-government”, which had been signed in Lisbon on 22 June.

"This agreement aims to establish a legal basis that facilitates cooperation between the parties, in accordance with the law in force in both States", says the statement of the Council of Ministers.