India, Serbia review bilateral engagement in trade and defence, express satisfaction over cooperation at multilateral fora

India and Serbia on Saturday held their 8th Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi and comprehensively reviewed bilateral engagement in the areas of trade and economy, defence, science & technology, research & development, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, culture, and people-to-people ties.

As per the Ministry of External Affairs, during the meeting, the two sides also expressed satisfaction about their strong cooperation in the multilateral fora.

Both sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including developments in India’s neighbourhood, Ukraine, and the United Nations, the Ministry said.

India’s priorities as President of G20, and its endeavour to take up the cause of Global South, were also shared with the Serbian side.

At the FOC, while the Indian side was led by Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, the Serbian side was led by Ambassador Vladimir Marić, Assistant Minister for Bilateral Cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.

Both India and Serbia agreed on sustaining regular exchanges that have nurtured bilateral relations.

The next round of Foreign Office Consultations will be held on mutually convenient dates in Belgrade.

In October 2021, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture (MoS) Meenakashi Lekhi had led the Indian delegation as the Special Envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the high-level commemorative meeting to mark the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement held at Belgrade.

During this visit, India and Serbia had reiterated their shared desire to upgrade the relationship to a higher level and a cultural exchange programme between India and Serbia was also signed.

On the trade front, the total bilateral commerce between the two countries from January to September 2022 amounted to $247.2 million, marking an increase of 32.5% compared to $186.6 million for the same period of 2021, said data from the Indian embassy in Belgrade.

Major Indian investments in Serbia include, Embassy Group developing an IT Park in Indjija; Chennai based TAFE exporting tractors to Serbia for over six decades acquired strategic asset of Serbian IMT; CG Group India investing Euro 9m in a noodle factory in Ruma; Mahindra and Sonalika setting up assembly lines through local partners. A UAE-based Indian company Mulk Holdings (Alubond Europe) investing $20 million in Serbia for manufacturing aluminium panels.

In November 2021, Motherson Sumi of India opened its second factory in Serbia. New facility produces parts for the interiors of luxury cars such as Porsche, Audi and BMW etc. Euro 38 million have been invested.

The other Serbian facility PKC Wiring Systems, a Finnish company was acquired by Motherson in 2017. Both companies together have an investment of about Euro 65 million and provide employment to about 4500 people.

In 2022, PKC Wiring Systems doo, a member of the international Motherson Group, opened a part factory where 900 people would be employed in Pozarevac. This is the company’s third facility in Serbia – it employs 3,826 workers in the factory in Smederevo and 286 in Cuprija.