India,Slovakia elevate ties, deepen manufacturing and tech cooperation

The two countries upgraded relations to a comprehensive partnership and announced 14 outcomes spanning defence, labour mobility, digital technologies and advanced manufacturing

Elevating their relationship to a “comprehensive partnership” and announcing 14 outcomes, India and Slovakia on Monday called for an early India-European Union trade deal — its signing and execution.

 

They resolved to strengthen cooperation in defence manufacturing, labour migration, and digital technologies after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Slovakian counterpart, Robert Fico, in Slovakian capital Bratislava on Monday.

 

Modi and Fico agreed to enhance bilateral trade and two-way investment in sectors such as automotive, electronics and other advanced manufacturing industries.

 

“Our potential is vast. Our aspirations are even greater. Automobile, railways, advanced manufacturing, and green technologies are areas of particular interest to us,” Modi said at the joint press briefing with Fico.

 

 

According to the Slovak Statistical Office data, in 2024, bilateral trade between the two countries reached $1.3 billion, crossing $1 billion for the first time.

 

In 2025, trade increased further to $1.8 billion, with annual growth of 28 per cent, and driven by Indian exports of $1.52 billion.

 

Indian and Slovakian companies have tied up in the manufacturing sector, especially of automobiles and railway freight wagons.

 

The leaders agreed to support the development of cooperation with regional groupings such as the Slavkov 3, Visegrad 4 or V4, and Three Seas Initiative, which are overlapping regional cooperation frameworks in Central and Eastern Europe.

 

The Three Seas Initiative, launched in 2016, brings together 13 European Union countries situated between the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas, while Slavkov3 comprises the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. The V4 was founded in 1991. It is a political alliance of Central European countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

 

Modi said technology was an important pillar in India-Slovakia cooperation in the years to come. He welcomed the setting up of the first ever Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) chair in artificial intelligence (AI) at the Technical University of Kosice. 

 

Modi said AI’s future was not merely innovation, but should also be based on trust, responsibility and human dignity.

 

Modi spoke of the potential of bilateral cooperation in the space sector, and that India launched Slovakia’s first satellite in 2017.

 

He said cooperation in civil nuclear energy was a priority for the two countries, and termed the agreement on defence cooperation, including joint development and joint production, as evidence of “strategic convergence” between the two countries.

 

The two sides agreed to conclude early a social-security agreement to safeguard the welfare and social protection of working professionals engaged in mobility between India and Slovakia.

 

They noted the potential of Slovakia’s position as a Central European transport hub, agreed to explore cooperation in new and emerging technologies, including 5G use cases, 6G standardisation, Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. The two sides also decided to establish a mechanism for regular consular consultations.

 

The India-Slovakia “comprehensive partnership” aims to “strengthen existing cooperation mechanisms and explore new avenues for deepening cooperation”, a joint statement issued after the meeting stated. Slovakia reaffirmed its constructive approach to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

 

This is the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Slovakia since Czechoslovakia split to form the Czech Republic and Slovakian Republic in 1993.

 

Modi will be in France over the next three days, and will attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit at Evian-les-Bains. He will hold bilateral meetings with summit leaders including United States President Donald Trump.

 

India first attended a G7 Summit in 2003, when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was invited by the French President of the day, Jacques Chirac, to attend the summit, also at Evian-les-Bains.