India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a luncheon meeting with the envoys of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary recently as India looks to build closer ties with the Visegrad-4 countries in the EU.
Adam Burakowski of Poland, Milan Hovorka of Czech Republic, Ivan Lancaric of Slovakia and Andras Kiraly of Hungary met the minister. "Pleasure to host the Ambassadors of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary today. Good conversation on ways of expanding our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed global politics and India-EU relations. Look forward to strengthening our partnership with Visegrad group," Jaishankar tweeted.
India is aiming to build a close grouping with the Visegrad-4, where the areas of focus would be trade, tourism and connectivity.
The Visegrad group of four countries - a political and cultural grouping - has been on India’s radar for some time. Jaishankar visited Poland and Hungary in 2019, soon after taking over as foreign minister. Poland started flying its national carrier into India late last year, which stopped after the pandemic hit.
India has been investing more in EU countries, both for political reasons as well as to open new markets.
