President Kovind seeks Slovenia's help in fighting cross-border terrorism

Expressing gratitude towards his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor for extending his support to fight cross-border terrorism, President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday said terrorism is one of the gravest challenges confronting humanity today.

"I thanked President Pahor for his support to fight cross-border terrorism and for his understanding India's core concerns in this regard. We 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," Kovind said.

He added that both the countries have agreed to work together to reform and strengthen multilateralism, and promotes a multi-polar world.

"Slovenia and India share historic ties based on close cultural affinities and shared democratic values. President Pahor and I held wide-ranging discussions today. We committed to further expand our bilateral ties and deepen our global partnership," the President added.

Adding that India is aiming to become a 5 trillion economy by 2025, Kovind said, "We are keen to leverage Slavonia's high-end technology, sustainable business practices, and research, knowledge, and innovation capacities to support our rapid growth."

"Our Smart Cities, Start-up India, river rejuvenation and Make in India initiatives offer substantial business opportunities to Slovenian companies. We have already made progress in our defence and water partnerships," he added.

President also thanked Pahor for the initiative of the Slovenian Government to release postal stamp later this month to commemorate the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

He also said India and Slovenia have 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.

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.