India and Slovakia sign several MoUs, agree to establish JWG on counter terrorism

Bratislava: India and Slovakia on Monday signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and also agreed to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter-terrorism during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bratislava.

PM Modi and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico held talks on Monday, reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral relations. Agreeing to establish a JWG on counter-terrorism, they called for concerted international efforts to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

“The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation in counterterrorism, including within the framework of the United Nations, and called for strong and decisive action against terrorists and terrorist entities, including those designated by the United Nations Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee, as well as their affiliates, proxies, sponsors, financiers and supporters,” read the Joint Statement issued after the meeting.

Following the talks, MOUs on cooperation in the field of Digital Technologies, Labour Migration, Higher Education and Research, Audio-Visual Creation, Quantum Communication and Critical Infrastructure Protection were exchanged.

MoU between National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune, Ministry of Ayush, and Slovak Health Spa Piestany was also exchanged while an agreement between Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Slovak Technical University for cooperation in student exchange programmes, scholarships and research collaboration was finalised.

The two countries also agreed on the establishment of the first-ever ICCR Chair in Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Kosice and agreed on tourism cooperation between the Association of Tour Operators.

An Agreement on Scientific Cooperation between the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) was also completed.

India and Slovakia also announced elevation of their bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership.

“Held an excellent meeting with Prime Minister Fico. This is indeed a very special moment for the India-Slovakia friendship. Considering the strong potential of our ties, we have elevated our relations to a Comprehensive Partnership,” PM Modi wrote on X after the meeting.

“The India-EU (European Union) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will also add momentum to our partnership,” he added.

Both leaders noted that cooperation on consular matters remained an area of continued interest to both countries, given the growing movement of people and expanding people-to-people ties.

They agreed to establish a mechanism for regular consular consultations between their respective consular authorities to facilitate cooperation on consular matters.

IANS