India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

maintain diplomatic relations. Lesotho has a high commission in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and India has a non-resident High Commissioner in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Both nations are part of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...

and the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

. "Considering that India is the largest democracy in the world, and given past contributions to the promotion of peace", Lesotho has officially decided to back India's candidacy for a permanent seat in a reformed Security Council. Lesotho has also recognised

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

as an integral part of India, and supports the Indian stand on this issue. According to the Indian High Commission to Pretoria's website, "Since 1996, the High Commission in Pretoria has been concurrently accredited to Lesotho. Earlier, Lesotho came under the charge of the High Commission in Botswana. Following the visit of Prime Minister Mosisili to India in August 2003, Lesotho opened a resident mission in New Delhi. Mr. Shabir Peerbhai was appointed as Lesotho’s High Commissioner to India." Shri Man Mohan Bakaya was appointed the Honorary Consul of India to the Kingdom of Lesotho in March 2014 at a ceremony held in the Lesotho capital, Maseru, by the Indian High Commissioner to South Africa (accredited to Lesotho).

Community

An important, well established Indian community of 4,000 reside in Lesotho, conducting commerce and trade. With a high economic profile, the community's presence has been noted since the early 1900s. Annual festivals, functions, and events are carried out by the Indian Association Of Lesotho.

Economic ties

During the fiscal year of 2022, India's net trade with Lesotho amounted to $30 million. This included pharmaceutical products, textiles and mineral products.

References

Bilateral relations of Lesotho

{{bilateralrelations-stub

Community

Economic ties

See also

References