mapusa the mapusa municipal council mmc is contemplating linking mapusa city with a foreign one under twining the cities a programme by the union ministry of external affairs the objective of the programme is to strengthen the bonds of friendship between a city in india and one abroad the guidelines for the programme were issued by the ministry of external affairs in 1994 in consultation with the union ministries of tourism and finance according to the circular issued by the department of urban development considerable changes have occurred and advancement made in various fields which could be immensely beneficial to local authorities in india and the partner countries the department of urban development had issued a circular to all municipalities to go through the comparative statements prepared with reference to the existing guidelines versus the proposed guidelines and furnish comments within seven days if mapusa and the guidelines under the programme match and we can link the city to a foreign one then we will move a proposal to the state government which in turn will have to be forwarded to the central government mmc chairperson sandip falari said the objective of twining cities is to encourage the study of culture art literature to promote exchange visits of persons in the fields of health education to promote establishments of links between nongovernmental organizations and youth bodies to promote international understanding goodwill and enrichment of culture and to promote exchanges in the areas of trade and investment