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NEW DELHI: India and Slovakia upgraded their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive partnership — exploring ways to expand cooperation in areas like defence and security, AI, space and civil nuclear energy — as PM Narendra Modi became the first Indian PM to visit the central European country since its independence in 1993.After a bilateral meeting between Modi and his counterpart Robert Fico, the two sides announced over a dozen outcomes, including a joint working group on counterterrorism, a letter of intent for promoting defence cooperation and an MoU on labour migration. Modi is on a two-day visit to Bratislava and will return to France on Tuesday for the G7 summit.Modi raised the issue of pending UN reforms in the meeting, saying later in his media statement that both leaders agreed global institutions must redefine themselves in keeping with the challenges and realities of the 21st century. “We will work to strengthen global efforts on this issue,” said the PM.“The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism, with the United Nations at its core, and to a rules-based international order, while supporting comprehensive reforms of multilateral institutions, including the UN, particularly the UNSC, to make them more representative, inclusive, effective and reflective of contemporary geopolitical realities,” said a joint statement, adding that India appreciated Slovakia’s continued support for India’s permanent membership in a reformed and expanded UNSC.The PM underlined the significance of dialogue and diplomacy as he said both leaders agreed all disputes must be resolved through peaceful means and that India and Slovakia, a member of EU and Nato, would continue to work with their partners in that direction. With bilateral trade on an upswing, the leaders discussed early implementation of the India-EU FTA to ensure that traders, industries and startups in both countries can use it to their maximum advantage.The leaders also condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and strongly condemned the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April 2025. While agreeing to establish a joint working group on counterterrorism, they called for concerted international efforts to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner.The leaders also discussed the potential of Slovakia’s position as a central European transport hub and India’s large-scale manufacturing capabilities to boost trade and connectivity. “They also encouraged exploration of direct air connectivity between India and Slovakia to facilitate growing economic, business and people-to-people exchanges,” said the joint statement. Modi and Fico backed safe and legal mobility of skilled professionals, agreeing that the MoU for labour migration will facilitate mobility and promote exchange of information between the relevant authorities of India and Slovakia.
