President Murmu holds 'productive' meeting with Serbian counterpart

Belgrade: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday held a "productive" meeting with her Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic here and said that bilateral relationship is based on mutual trust, mutual understanding and support for each other on issues of core interest.

"We remain committed to inject more ambition into this vital relationship," said Murmu, who is the first Indian President to visit Serbia.

During the delegation-level talks, both the Presidents discussed important aspects of India-Serbia bilateral relationship and global and regional issues of common interest.

"I had a constructive and productive meeting with President Vucic this morning on all important aspects of our bilateral relationship and global and regional issues of common interest," Murmu said in a press statement.

She said the relations between India and Serbia have been unique since the days of the Non-Alignment Movement. "Our relationship is based on mutual trust, mutual understanding and support for each other on issues of core interest," she said.

"We also resolved to build further on our long-standing bilateral ties, especially in trade and investment, science and technology, including information and digital technologies, and to promote people-to-people contacts further. We agreed to strengthen our coordination and cooperation in the United Nations and other multilateral fora," she added.

The president also said that she was delighted to visit Serbia, her first State Visit to any European country. She thanked President Vucic and the people of Serbia for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to her and the Indian delegation.

She recalled the visit of President Vucic to India in 2017, as the then Prime Minister of Serbia, and said his visit set the tone for further expansion of our bilateral partnership.

Earlier, President Murmu was warmly welcomed by President Vucic in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace with full State honours.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic called on President Murmu and discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interests.

Murmu also addressed the India-Serbia Business Forum. "Enhanced interaction between our business organizations will lead to robust, long-term, and mutually beneficial partnerships," she said.

Speaking at the business forum, Murmu said India and Serbia have had close and friendly relations since the days of Non-Aligned Movement. It is now time to build on this, and strengthen our trade and economic partnership, she added.

"I had a very good meeting with President Vucic. We both agreed to deepen our partnership in all spheres, including economic and business ties. The entrepreneurs present in this room today can become the driving force of dynamism between our two countries," she told the business leaders.

Underlining that India is the fifth-largest economy, and is on its way to becoming the third-largest before the end of this decade, Murmu said there has been significant success in auto and auto-components sector, health care, pharmaceuticals and bio-technology, renewable energy, textiles & apparel, space, information technology, telecom, fintech and financial services.

"The rapid growth in digital infrastructure has put India at the forefront in terms of technological innovation. Be it availability of day-to-day services through mobile and online platforms or cashless transactions, India continues to achieve digital transformation in every field," she said.

India has the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world, with over 100 unicorns. In 2022, the total FDI inflow into India was around USD 77 billion, the president said.

"Yours is a country of intelligent, hard-working people driven by innovation and ideas. Serbia can become an effective gateway for Indian companies to access broader markets in Europe and Eurasia," she said.

She noted that there is a large potential for India-Serbia trade and investment, and said, "we must take advantage of it. We must strengthen our old bridges, and also build new ones. It is also time to eliminate the information gap between our two countries."

Noting that Serbia is looking for hard-working and skilled workers and professionals from overseas to help meet workforce requirements, the president said she was convinced that Indian talent can be a credible partner in the progress of Serbia.

Even though bilateral trade between India and Serbia is at present at around USD 320 million, Murmu said she was confident that the two-way trade can grow to at-least USD 1 billion by 2030.

"You must take advantage of the growth momentum in our respective economies to achieve this target. In your endeavours, I assure you of the full cooperation and support of the Government of India, and wish you all success," she added.