Lithuania sees technology, people-to-people ties as key to expanding India partnership: Envoy

New Delhi, August 21, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)

Lithuania and India are steadily broadening their bilateral engagement, with technology, education, tourism and people-to-people exchanges emerging as important areas alongside established cooperation in trade and culture, Lithuanian Ambassador to India Diana Mickevičienė said.

In an interaction with IANS, Mickevičienė said the two countries have maintained a strong political dialogue and witnessed steady growth in trade, movement of goods and services, tourism and educational exchanges.

“We have a good political dialogue and a good understanding between the two countries. We have developing trade and a steady movement of goods and services,” she said, adding that the number of Indian students and the Indian community in Lithuania had increased substantially during her four-year tenure in India.

The ambassador said Lithuania was keen to deepen people-to-people links through students and communities. She also pointed to longstanding historical and linguistic connections, including similarities between Sanskrit and Lithuanian. The Lithuanian Embassy has previously highlighted these linguistic and cultural links as an important area of India-Lithuania engagement.

Looking ahead, Mickevičienė identified technology as a major area of potential cooperation. She said bilateral economic engagement was increasingly extending to electronic products, components and digital technologies.

“While the traditional areas of cooperation, economics and culture remain important, we are increasingly entering the field of technological partnerships. I believe that will be the future,” she said.

The ambassador also spoke about Lithuania’s admiration for Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of peace and non-violence. She cited Lithuanian-born Jewish architect and Gandhi’s close associate Hermann Kallenbach as a personal link between Lithuania and the Indian freedom leader.

Mickevičienė also drew parallels between Gandhi’s philosophy and Lithuania’s peaceful independence movement, particularly the Baltic Way of August 23, 1989, when people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formed a human chain demanding freedom, independence and democracy.

“You could say that we are the Nordic lights reflecting Gandhi’s values in the world. We are very happy to stand by what he taught,” she said.

Mickevičienė has served as Lithuania’s ambassador to India since November 2022, according to the Lithuanian Embassy.