Slovakia to Support India as New Permanent Member of UN Security Council
As part of the reform of the United Nations (UN), Slovakia will support India in its bid to become a new permanent member of the UN Security Council, President Peter Pellegrini told a news conference following his meeting with Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday.
Bratislava, April 9 (TASR) - As part of the reform of the United Nations (UN), Slovakia will support India in its bid to become a new permanent member of the UN Security Council, President Peter Pellegrini told a news conference following his meeting with Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday.
During Murmu's visit to the Presidential Palace, the Slovak and Indian sides signed two memorandums of understanding, one concerning cooperation in training and the exchange of diplomats, and the other on cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises.
"We and India are great advocates of a multilaterally functioning world and support the functioning of international organisations. This is crucial for Slovakia," stated Pellegrini. Murmu added that they agreed to strengthen cooperation and coordination at the UN and other multilateral forums.
According to Pellegrini, India is an inspiration for Slovakia in many areas, and he mentioned modernisation and digitisation in this context. "We're interested in joint projects within the framework of modern technologies, research and development. Slovakia has something to offer here as well," he said, recalling how an Indian launch vehicle helped to put a Slovak satellite into orbit in 2017.
The heads of state also spoke about artificial intelligence, its regulation and the ethical and moral rules on which it should be based. They concurred that modern technologies must be distributed to all layers of society and reach every resident of both Slovakia and India.
On Thursday (April 10), the presidents will jointly visit the Jaguar Land Rover plant in Nitra, which is the biggest Indian investment in Slovakia. "We'll carefully listen to the factory's management, who will inform us about the impacts of the new tariff policy pursued by the USA and President Donald Trump in relation to the European Union and the automotive industry," said Pellegrini.
The two presidents agreed on a solution to the war in Ukraine. They see no point in further armaments and no possibility of concluding peace on the battlefield, either. According to them, the only solution is further peace negotiations and a diplomatic way, said Pellegrini.
The Slovak president announced that the Slovak Embassy in New Delhi will organise a week of Slovak culture in November.
The Indian president's visit is the first top-level bilateral one in more than 20 years and the first visit by an Indian head of state in almost 30 years. Former president Ivan Gasparovic went on the most-recent visit to India in 2004.
