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Slovak Ambassador to India Robert Maxian said defence cooperation between India and Slovakia has evolved over the years, with both countries now working closely.
He noted that while Slovakia has been a long-time supplier of defence technologies to India, India's growing domestic defence production has also changed the nature of the partnership, and even Slovakia is now buying defence technologies from India. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Maxian said, "Defence is a very specific area of cooperation. Slovakia has been a solid supplier of defence technologies to India since 1993. We have been one of the biggest suppliers of military hardware to India, and we have been working with the public sector units, the Indian Ordnance Factories and the Ministry of Defence. After 30 years, the scenario has been slightly changed due to the so-called indigenisation." "The domestic production of military hardware in India is very significant, and now we are also cooperating in the private sector; cooperation is going very well. There are a number of projects we are cooperating on jointly, and a very interesting element of our cooperation in defence that even Slovakia buys defence technologies from India," Maxian said. Maxian said the automotive sector is a key part of India-Slovakia trade, with Slovakia supplying luxury cars to India while also importing spare parts from India. He also said that total bilateral trade in this segment is around 300 million euros and said a future free trade agreement (FTA) could further boost cooperation, potentially making luxury cars cheaper in India by reducing import duties over time. "The automotive industry is a strategic component of our cooperation. Slovakia has been supplying luxury cars to India for a number of years. On the other hand, we are buying the spare parts from India. This total trade comes to 300 million euros. So, FTA will give a further boost to other cooperation in this area. But practically it will mean that the Indian buyer will have the possibility to buy luxury cars cheaper than he's buying so far, because the import duty as of now is 110%, which will be gradually reduced in the long term to 10 per cent," the Slovak Ambassador said. At the invitation of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, PM Modi will undertake a State Visit to the Slovak Republic from June 14-16. This will be the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Slovakia since the country's independence in 1993. The visit follows President Droupadi Murmu's state visit to Slovakia in April 2025 and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini's visit to India for the AI Impact Summit in February 2026. (ANI)
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