Bulgaria–India relations
Bulgaria–India relations (Bulgarian: Българо-индийските отношения; Hindi: बुल्गारिया-भारत संबंध) are the international relations that exist between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of India. Bulgaria has an embassy in New Delhi and honorary consulates in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The embassy is jointly accredited to Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan, and also observes the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). India has an embassy in Sofia, that is also jointly accredited to Macedonia. In mid-1954, preliminary negotiations were held between Bulgaria and India in Moscow, and diplomatic relations were established in December 1954. Bulgaria opened a diplomatic mission (Legation) in New Delhi in April 1955. The mission was re-organized into an embassy in March 1961. India's diplomatic representatives to Bulgaria resided in Belgrade and Bucharest from July 1955 until April 1970. India opened its embassy in Sofia in May 1970. Indira Gandhi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Bulgaria in October 1967. Todor Zhivkov was the first Bulgarian Prime Minister to visit India in January 1969. Gandhi visited Bulgaria again in 1981. Presidents V.V. Giri visited Bulgaria in 1976, Sanjiva Reddy in 1980, S. D. Sharma in 1994, and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2003.