Embassy of India, Ljubljana, Slovenia : India-Slovenia Relations

India-Slovenia Relations

India-Slovenia Relations

Republic of Slovenia attained independence from erstwhile Yugoslavia in 1991. India recognized Slovenia on 11 May 1992. India supported Slovenia for membership at the UN. Slovenia was admitted into the UN on 23 May 1992.

Opening of Resident Missions

Diplomatic relations with Slovenia were concretized when the Ambassador of India in Vienna presented credentials on 03 February 1993 for concurrent accreditation to Slovenia. India opened its resident Mission in Ljubljana in February 2007.

Slovenia opened its resident mission in New Delhi on 01 August 2002 and upgraded it to Ambassador-level in September 2009. Slovenian Embassy in New Delhi has concurrent accreditation in Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Slovenia has its Honorary Consuls in India in four cities - Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai.

High-level Visits

A. From India

EAM's Visit to Slovenia for BSF 2021

The External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar, paid visit to Slovenia to participate in the 16^th annual Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) in Bled, Slovenia and to attend Gymnich meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers from 02-03 September 2021. This was the first ever visit to Slovenia by an Indian Cabinet Rank External Affairs Minister. He participated in the BSF panel on ‘Partnership for a Rules-based Order in the Indo-Pacific’. Other participants of the panel were Dr. Anže Logar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Mr. Ababu Namwamba, Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya and Dr. Augusto Santos Silva, Minister of State and of Foreign Affairs of Portugal. EAM was a special invitee at this year’s Gymnich lunch meeting hosted by Slovenian Foreign Minister Logar, during Slovenia’s EU Presidency, where 27 EU ministers and EAM exchanged views on the collaboration between the EU and India, and the Indo-Pacific region.

During his visit EAM also called on Slovenian Leadership including President Borut Pahor, PM Janez Jansa and the Speaker of National Assembly Igor Zorcic. He held bilateral meeting with his Slovenian counterpart Dr. Anze logar. A joint statement was issued by both the foreign Ministers after the bilateral meeting. https://youtu.be/wuncBVXs9MQ

During the visit External Affairs Minister also participated in the events organised by the Embassy under Amrit Mahotsav and:

Announced, establishment of ‘India Study Centre’ in the New University, Ljubljana.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the New (Nova) University, Ljubljana and Centre for Eastern & North-Eastern Regional Studies—Kolkata (CENERS-K), India was signed in the presence of the EAM.
Addressed the businessmen and stake holders from Slovenia-India Business forum.
Met Indian Students studying in Slovenia.

President of India's Visit to Slovenia in September 2019

Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, accompanied by a large delegation, which included Ms. Debasree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Women and Child Development; Dr. Ramapati Ram Tripathi, Member of Parliament; and Shri Basanta Kumar Panda, Member of Parliament, paid the first-ever State visit to Slovenia from 15-17 September 2019. A business delegation also accompanied him during the visit. President was accorded State Honours by Slovenian President Mr. Borut Pahor. President's engagements included tete-e-tete with the Slovenian President, delegation-level talks, calls by Mr. Dejan Zidan, President of National Assembly and Mr. Marjan Sarec, Prime Minister. During his visit, President also addressed the Indian community and Slovenia-India Business Forum. The following eight Programmes of Cooperation (PoCs) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during the visit:

Other visits from India included:

Mr. Y.K. Alagh, MOS for S&T (Feb 1997);
Mr. Gingee N. Ramachandran, MOS for Finance (Revenue) (Jan 2003).
Mr. Anand Sharma, then MOS (External Affairs) for inauguration of the leased Chancery premises of Embassy of India (30 March- 1 April 2008).
Ms. Preneet Kaur, MOS (EA) for participation at the annual Bled Strategic Forum in 2009, 2010 & 2013.
Ms. Meira Kumar, former Speaker of Lok Sabha, led a Parliamentary delegation (May 26-30, 2013)
Gen. V.K. Singh, MOS (EA) for the Bled Strategic Forum (August 2014)
Mr. M.J. Akbar, MOS (EA) for the Bled Strategic Forum (September 2017)
The President of ICCR and MP Rajya Sabha Dr.Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, visited Slovenia from 26-28 September, 2021.
Mr. B B Swain, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) visited Slovenia to attend the 60th International Fair for Agriculture and Food (AGRA) from 20-22 August 2022.
Mr. Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, visited Slovenia to co-chair the ninth round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between India and Slovenia on the 06 January 2023..
Ms. Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs and Culture visted Slovenia from 17-19 April 2023.

B. From Slovenia

Dimitrij Rupel, Former Foreign Minister (1992&2004)
Janez Drnovsek, Former President attended the inauguration of International Conference on Human values organised by the Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore (Jan 2006) & the Satyagraha Centenary Conference in New Delhi (Jan 2007)
Danilo Turk, Former President attended the Delhi Sustainable Summit in Feb 2010.
Borut Pahor as PM to India on State Visit (13-16 June 2011)
Zerjav Radovan, former Dy.PM and Minister for Economic Development and Technology (Jan, 2013)
Karl Erjavec, Dy. PM and Foreign Minister attended the 11^thASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi (Nov 2013)
Milan Brglez, President of the National Assembly led a Slovenian Parliamentary delegation to India (November 2015)
Alojz Peterle, Member European Parliament and Former PM of the Republic of Slovenia participated in the World Culture Festival organized by the Art of Living at New Delhi (March 2016)
Anze Logar, Foreign Minister attended the Raisina Dialogue 2022, New Delhi (April 2022).
Ms.Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign & European Affairs Minister visted India from 01-05 March 2023, and particiapted in the Raisina Dialogue 2023.

Bilateral /Institutional Framework:

Foreign Office consultations: There have been nine sessions of the Foreign Office consultations (FOC). The Ninth Session of the India-Slovenia FOC co-chaired by Mr. Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and Mr. Samuel Žbogar, State Secretary for Political and Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia (host) was held on 06 January 2023 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation: The bilateral Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation (JCTEC) has so far held nine sessions. The 9^th Session of JCTEC was held on virtual platform on 23 March 2021.

Parliamentary Friendship Group: In December 2018, the National Assembly of Slovenia established a Parliamentary Friendship Group with India with Ms.Suzana Lep Simoenko being its Chairperson.

Bilateral Agreements/ Protocols/ MOUs signed between the two countries are:

Agreement on setting up Joint Committee on Bilateral Trade and Cooperation (1993);
Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (1995); Programme of Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Ministry of Science and Technology of India and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia for the period 2020-2022 (September 2019);
Agreement between FICCI/ASSOCHAM and the Slovene Chamber of Commerce and Industry to set up Joint Business Council (1995);
Protocol on Foreign Office Consultations (1996);
Cultural Agreement for cooperation in the fields of culture, arts, education, sports and mass media (1996); Programme of Cooperation in the fields of Culture, Arts, Education, Sports and Mass Media. (September 2019);
National Centre for Trade Information, India (NCTI) – Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia (CCS) Agreement for reciprocal sharing of information (1997);
Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (2003); Protocol Amending the Convention and the Protocol for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income (May 2016);
Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) – Slovenian Export Corporation (SEC) Cooperation Framework Agreement (2003);
Bilateral Air Services Agreement (2004); Protocol amending the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (2012);
MOU between ICCR and University of Ljubljana for establishment of Hindi Chair (2009);
MOU between the Bureau of Indian Standards and Slovenian Institute for Standardization (2011); Programme of Cooperation between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Slovenian Institute for Standardization (SIST) on Technical Cooperation in the field of Standardization. (September 2019);
MOU between the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and University of Nova Gorica for Cooperation in the Field of Research and Education (2011);
MOU for the establishment of Long term Chair of Hindi at Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (2011);
Agreement on Short-Stay Visa Waiver for Holders of Diplomatic Passports (2013);
MOU between NIMS University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and University of Primorska on Cooperation in the Fields of Education and Science and Research (November 2014);
Agreement on Gainful Occupation of Dependents of Members of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts (April 2015);
MoU on Cooperation in the field of Sport between the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia. (September 2019);
MoU between Invest India and SPIRIT Slovenia. (September 2019);
Memorandum of Understanding between IIT Kanpur (for cGanga / India) and VGB (Slovenia). (September 2019);
Memorandum of Understanding between IIT Kanpur (for cGanga / India) and Space-SI (Slovenia). (September 2019);
Cooperation Agreement between Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). (September 2019);
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the New (Nova) University, Ljubljana and Centre for Eastern & North-Eastern Regional Studies—Kolkata (CENERS-K). (03 September 2021);
A consent paper on establishing of India Studies Centre was signed at New University in Ljubljana. (27 September 2021);
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC, India and SPIRIT Slovenia on co-operation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises between India and Slovenia. (August 2022)