The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly under Slovakia’s presidency of the V4. It marked the first high-level V4-India foreign ministers’ meeting.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar participated in the meeting along with Blanár; Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski; Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka; and Hungarian Deputy Foreign Minister Anita Orbán.

The ministers discussed ways to strengthen engagement between India and the Visegrád Group.

“They acknowledged the strong bilateral relations that exist betweene India and each of the V4 countries, and noted the potential for the V4+India format to complement and add further momentum to these ties,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The discussions covered opportunities for cooperation in areas including trade and investment, technology and innovation, resilient supply chains, defence and security, connectivity, education, mobility and people-to-people exchanges.

The ministers also discussed ways to increase interaction among businesses, academic and research institutions and other stakeholders from India and the V4 member states.

They exchanged views on global and regional developments, peace and security, as well as cooperation in multilateral forums.

The discussions also focused on efforts to address contemporary global challenges.

Jaishankar said the meeting marked a new chapter in India’s engagement with the four Central European countries, with the sides also agreeing to hold annual foreign ministers’ meetings and explore an annual business forum.