India, Slovenia sign seven MoUs

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday held talks with his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor in Ljubljana and discussed possible collaboration between the two nations on a wide range of issues.

India and Slovenia also signed and exchanged seven MoUs and Programmes of Cooperation in the fields of Investment, Sports, Culture, River Rejuvenation, Science and Technology and Standards in the presence of the two Presidents, an official statement said.

During the one-to-one discussions with President Pahor, the two leaders discussed possible collaboration between the two nations on a wide range of issues followed by delegation-level talks between the two sides.

"India-Slovenia bilateral trade is picking up and Indian and Slovenian companies are finding new opportunities to do business together. There is significant potential to increase bilateral trade by diversifying our trade basket," President Kovind said.

He said that India's growth and Slovenia's technology and manufacturing capacity complement each other.

"India is targeting to become a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2025. There are immense possibilities of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of high technology, especially clean technology, robotics and artificial intelligence. Start-up and innovation sectors also present opportunities. Slovenia has developed niche technology in the defence sector and is a proven leader in the field of Artificial Intelligence, defence equipment and clean water technologies," President Kovind said.

Pointing out the India-Slovenia relations in multilateral fora, the President said that India values Slovenia's support for India's candidature for permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council.

"There is a need to strengthen multilateral institutions and we should work together on this issue," he said seeking Slovenia's continued support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

On the issue of Climate change and environment, the President urged Slovenia to join the International Solar Alliance and strengthen India's efforts to combat climate change.

Kovind said that terrorism is one of the biggest challenges confronting us and thanked Slovenia for understanding and supporting India on issues of core concern including cross-border terrorism.

Both sides also agreed that terrorism was one of the gravest challenges confronting humanity today and that the world should come together to defeat and destroy these evil forces, the statement said.

President Kovind later met Prime Minister Marjan Sarec of Slovenia and discussed a range of bilateral and global issues.

The President is also scheduled to address the India-Slovenia Business event and also grace a reception to be hosted by the Indian community.

He arrived in Slovenian capital last night after concluding his visit to Iceland and Switzerland.

This is the first-ever visit by any Indian President to Slovenia after it gained Independence in 1991. During 2014 and 2018, trade between the two countries registered high growth, with India enjoying a trade surplus.

Pharmaceutical, organic chemicals, mineral fuels, coffee, tea, spices, iron and steels are main items exported by India to Slovenia.