Republic of India
The diplomatic relations with India were established on 22 December 1954. The first Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Delhi was opened in 1955, whereas the first Embassy of India in Sofia was opened in 1970. Bulgaria has appointed 3 Honorary consuls in India: Mr. Vishambhar Saran (based in Kolkata, with consular district covering the territory of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa); Dr. Yadugiri Kiran Kumar (based in Hyderabad, with consular district covering the territory of the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh); Mr. Vinay Rohidas Patil (based in Mumbai, with consular district covering the state of Maharashtra).
India is a priority partner of Bulgaria in Asia. The bilateral relations are stable in nature and are characterized by traditional friendship and cooperation in a wide range of areas. Bulgaria aims at building a comprehensive partnership with India, incl. in the context of the EU-India Strategic Partnership. A broad institutional bilateral framework has been established and a number of bilateral mechanisms are functioning, including the intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic and Scientific and Technical Cooperation; the intergovernmental Joint Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, the Joint Committee for Defence Cooperation, etc.
Political exchanges and contacts between the two countries are generally active. Important high-level visits in the recent years include the visit of the President of India to Bulgaria in 2018, the visit to India of the Speaker of the National Assembly in 2024, and the visits of the Minister of External Affairs of India to Bulgaria in 2023 and 2026.
The business contacts between the two countries are intensive. There is a trend of increasing bilateral trade and investments, reaching a volume of 301.5 million USD in 2025, of which 179.4 million USD are exports; in the same period, direct investments from India in Bulgaria amounted to 8.4 million EUR, and the Indian investments in Bulgaria reached 49.5 million EUR. Relations in the field of tourism are getting active, with a steady growth of the number of Indian tourists visiting Bulgaria.
Partnership in the areas of culture, education, science and technology etc. is carried out on the basis of the Agreement on Cultural Relations and the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Science and Technology, which are implemented through multi-annual target programs. An Indology Department was set at the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", where guest lecturers from India are part of the faculty, whereas a Bulgarian language lecturate is conducted at the Delhi University with the assistance of a guest lecturer from Bulgaria.
In India, the India-Bulgaria Friendship Association was established as part of the Indian Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, whereas the nongovernmental voluntary organization Friends of India Club was established in Sofia, and annually publishes the "Svetilnik" magazine. In 1997, the Indological "East - West" Foundation was established, with the aim of supporting the development of the Bulgarian Indological school.