India, Central Europe Seek Closer Ties as US Relations Strain

Submission Statement: India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met four Central European counterparts to boost cooperation and deepen defense ties as New Delhi broadens its diplomatic outreach at a time of strained relations with the US.

Ministers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — members of the regional grouping known as the Visegrad Group, or V4 — held their first joint ministerial meeting with India on Monday.

The four countries also backed India’s bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, according to Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.

“We all agree as V4 countries that India, as a part of the Global South, upcoming superpower in the Indo-Pacific region, must be at the table as the permanent member of the UN Security Council,” Blanar said.

Apart from Blanar, the meeting also included Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orban and Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka.

The ministers discussed global and regional developments, security and cooperation in multilateral forums, including reforms to global institutions and challenges facing developing nations. Jaishankar also called for stronger defense ties.

The group also discussed space, connectivity and people-to-people mobility.