Malta and India deepen cultural and economic partnerships

Malta marks sixty years of relations with India, boosting ties through trade, culture, education.

- MURTAZA ALI KHAN

Reuben Gauci, High Commissioner of the Republic of Malta to India

As Malta and India mark 60 years of diplomatic relations, Malta's High Commissioner to India, Reuben Gauci, believes the story of this partnership is far older—shaped by empire, strengthened by people, and now propelled by culture, commerce, cinema, education, and shared aspirations.

"This is the 60th anniversary of Malta-India diplomatic relations. Our ties officially began on 10 March 1965—less than six months after Malta’s independence," he says. "As you know, both Malta and India were under the British, and this shared legacy built many of our early bridges."

The High Commissioner vividly traces the historical continuum between the two nations. When Malta joined the British Empire in 1800, Admiral Horatio Nelson described the island as “on the way to India”—a remark whose truth emerged decades later.

“When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Malta became the gateway between Europe and the East. Indian soldiers passed through Malta in 1878. Indian traders and Sindhi entrepreneurs arrived soon after,” he recalls.

From the 19th century onward, Indian business families became part of the Maltese urban fabric. “When I was a boy in the 1980s, the best textile shops in Valletta were Indian-owned—names like Savita and Gopaldas. Malta still has old Indian families who have become Maltese not only by nationality but by culture.”

In a fascinating cultural twist, the Sindhi merchants also helped export Malta’s famed traditional lace across the British Empire, all the way to Java.