Shahin Bepari Lambe
Panaji
The state Department of Archives is pursuing the acquisition of historical records pertaining to Goa available in public and private archives in Portugal through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The state government said MEA had responded positively to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s request for assistance in acquiring the records.
Sawant had written to MEA on December 18, 2025, and a positive response was received on February 23. The department is now in contact with the MEA’s nodal officer to identify and acquire the records.
A senior department official said that the government had not sought the assistance of political leaders in European countries having roots in Goa to acquire or take possession of the historical documents.
“A Protocol of Cooperation between the National Archives of India and
the Ministry of Culture of
the Portuguese Republic in the field of Archives was signed on May 17, 2017. The Goa government has initiated discussions for the acquisition of records from Portuguese archives under the cooperation framework,” said the official.
As part of the agreement, the National Archives
of Portugal handed over digital copies of 62 volumes of the historic ‘Monsoon Correspondence’ records series to the National Archives
of India.
“The soft copies were subsequently handed over to department on September 7, 2020,” the official said.
Meanwhile, as many as 112 applications have been received for the online translation of 635
Portuguese documents, according to government data given in the Assembly. The service allows applicants to seek translations of historical Portuguese documents through the
Department of Archives.
