India and the four-member Visegrad group of Central European countries on Monday (September 21, 2026) agreed to step up political, economic and defence cooperation at their first Foreign Ministers’ meeting, which External Affairs Minister S.
Jaishankar described as a “new historic occasion”.
Mr Jaishankar met with Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radek Sikorski; Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Anita Orban; Slovakia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Juraj Blanar; and the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Petr Macinka. “It was a very, very productive meeting. “We would also explore technology and innovation whether we could be doing more. We have a very strong history with all the V4 countries in defence. We want to refresh and take forward that record and that cooperation,” Mr. Mr. “It was really a very, very worthwhile, very productive meeting. In a post on X, Mr.
“It was, in a sense, a new historic occasion,” Mr. Jaishankar said in remarks after the meeting. What we agreed was that since India’s relationship with the European Union itself is deepening, with the V4 we would take some special initiatives to create an annual business forum,” he said, adding that there was “consensus” that the Foreign Ministers of the five nations in the group would meet annually. Jaishankar said. Jaishankar said the meeting was “very worthwhile” and “very productive”, with discussions focusing on cooperation as well as major global crises, including the Ukraine conflict and developments in the Gulf. I’m very pleased about it,” he said in remarks to reporters after the meeting. Jaishankar said the first meeting in the V4+India format agreed to closer political cooperation, including annual meetings of foreign ministers, and deeper economic cooperation, including the Annual Business Forum.
