Venkaiah Naidu in Belgrade: Vice-president discusses cooperation in trade, defence with Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic

Belgrade: India and Serbia on Saturday signed two agreements, including one on air services, as Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu met Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic and held “fruitful” discussions with him on strengthening cooperation in a number of areas, including trade, defence and IT. Naidu, who arrived in Serbia on Friday, was welcomed by Vucic at the Serbia Palace. During the visit, the two sides signed agreement on cooperation in the field of plant health and plant quarantine and a revised Air Services Agreement. “These agreements will contribute to further enhancing bilateral economic ties,” Vice-President’s office tweeted. External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted:

New impetus to the partnership that is gaining momentum!Vice President @MVenkaiahNaidu & President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic led delegation level talks betwn 2 sides where fruitful discussion on food production,agriculture, pharmaceuticals,defense industry,tourism & IT followed. pic.twitter.com/uLDKprM4TT

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 15, 2018

The two leaders also discussed ways to strengthen economic cooperation and trade to expand the great potential of partnership between two countries, he said. “India is the largest global player in generic medicines and with the new Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, we have the potential to become the largest drugs manufacturer and exporter in the world, including in the East European region,” Naidu said. “We greatly appreciate the growing interest and increasing popularity of Indian culture, especially in yoga, ayurveda and homeopathy in Serbia,” he said. Today India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world, Naidu said as he invited Serbian companies to take advantage of the favourable trade and investment environment in India as well as major policy initiatives like Make in India, Smart cities, Digital India and Start-up India by participating in these programmes. “There is huge scope to promote collaboration in sectors like agriculture and food processing, science and technology, IT and electronics, pharmaceuticals, education and tourism,” the vice-president said. The two leaders jointly presided over India-Serbia Business Forum meeting where leading businessmen were urged to explore new opportunities emerging in both the countries. The two leaders jointly released the postage stamp of Swami Vivekananda and Nikola Tesla, the great scientist from Serbia to commemorate 70 years of India-Serbia diplomatic relations. Earlier, Naidu was accorded a ceremonial welcome by Vucic. On Friday, Naidu interacted with the Indian community in Belgrade and asked them to be part of India’s growth story.