On Friday, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jana and discussed strengthening bilateral relations and major global issues, including challenges in Europe, the Indo-Pacific situation and the situation in Afghanistan.
Jaishankar is in the central European country as part of a four-day visit to Slovenia, Croatia and Denmark to strengthen India-EU relations and for bilateral talks.
Called the Prime Minister of Slovenia @JJansaSDS. Appreciated the discussion on strengthening our bilateral relations. He appreciated his ideas and perspectives on major global issues, including the challenges of Europe, the Indo-Pacific and Afghanistan, he said on Twitter.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar also had a cordial meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly of Slovenia Igor Zorcic and discussed strengthening bilateral relations and increasing parliamentary exchanges and people-to-people contacts.
On Thursday, he had a panel discussion with his Slovenian counterpart Anze Logar at the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) on the theme of “Partnership for a Rules-Based Order in the Indo-Pacific†here.
There is a clearer realization in Europe that what is happening in the Indo-Pacific directly infringes on its interests, Jaishankar said.
India-EU relations have grown stronger as the world battles a global pandemic and issues of trust and transparency, reliable and resilient supply chains have created common ground, he added. .
Slovenia currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and invited Jaishankar to attend the informal meeting of foreign ministers of EU member states.
The crisis in Afghanistan was on the agenda for ministerial closed-door discussions on Thursday.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, two weeks before the complete withdrawal of US troops on August 31 after a costly two-decade war. This forced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country to the United Arab Emirates.
Taliban insurgents invaded Afghanistan and captured all major cities within days, as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the United States and its allies melted away.
Thousands of Afghan nationals and foreigners have fled the country to escape the new Taliban regime and seek asylum in various countries, including the United States and many European countries, resulting in utter chaos and deaths.
(Only the title and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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