India-Slovenia Relations
Republic of Slovenia attained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. India recognized Slovenia on 11 May 1992. India supported Slovenia for membership at the UN. Slovenia was admitted into the UN on 23 May 1992.
Diplomatic relations with Slovenia were concretized when the Ambassador of India in Vienna presented credentials on February 3, 1993 for concurrent accreditation to Slovenia. India opened its resident Mission in Ljubljana in February 2007.
Slovenia opened its resident mission in New Delhi on 1 August 2002 and upgraded it to Ambassador-level in September 2009. Slovenian Embassy in New Delhi has concurrent accreditation in Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. Slovenia has its Honorary Consuls in India in four cities - Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai.
From India
Hon’ble Rashtrapatiji, accompanied by a large delegation including MOS for Women and Child Development and two Members of Parliament from Lok Sabha, paid the first-ever State visit to Slovenia from 15-17 September 2019. A business delegation also accompanied him during the visit. Rashtrapatiji was granted State Honours by the Slovenian President. His engagements including tete-e-tete with the Slovenian President, delegation-level talks, calls by Slovenian President of National Assembly and Prime Minister. During his visit, he also addressed the Indian community and Slovenia-India Business Forum. The following agreements were signed during the visit:
Other visits include:
From Slovenia
Bilateral Agreements/ Protocols/ MOUs signed between the two countries are: Agreement on setting up Joint Committee on Bilateral Trade and Cooperation (1993); Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (1995); Agreement between FICCI/ASSOCHAM and the Slovene Chamber of Commerce and Industry to set up Joint Business Council (1995); Protocol on Foreign Office Consultations (1996); Cultural Agreement for cooperation in the fields of culture, arts, education, sports and mass media (1996); National Centre for Trade Information, India (NCTI) – Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia (CCS) Agreement for reciprocal sharing of information (1997); Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (2003); Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) – Slovenian Export Corporation (SEC) Cooperation Framework Agreement (2003); Bilateral Air Services Agreement (2004); MOU between ICCR and University of Ljubljana for establishment of Hindi Chair (2009); Agreement on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments (2011); MOU between the Bureau of Indian Standards and Slovenian Institute for Standardization (2011); MOU between the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and University of Nova Gorica for Cooperation in the Field of Research and Education (2011); MOU for the establishment of Long Term Chair of Hindi at Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (2011); MOU between Air India, Aerodrom Ljubljana and Adria Airways (2011); Protocol amending the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (2012); Agreement on Short-Stay Visa Waiver for Holders of Diplomatic Passports (2013); Agreement between Air India and Adria Airways on code-sharing arrangements (2013); MOU between Prasar Bharati and RTV on Co-operation in Broadcasting (2013); MOU between NIMS University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and University of Primorska on Cooperation in the Fields of Education and Science and Research (Nov 2014); Agreement on Gainful Occupation of Dependents of Members of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts (April 2015); Protocol Amending the Convention and the Protocol for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income (May 2016); MOU between Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of AYUSH and University of Primorska (July, 2016).
Institutional Mechanism: In December 2018, the National Assembly of Slovenia established a Parliamentary Friendship Group with India with Ms. Suzana Lep Simenko being its Chairperson. There have been seven sessions of the Foreign Office Consultations (FOCs) so far, the last was at New Delhi in July 2010. In addition, political consultations between India and Slovenia took place in February 2014 in Ljubljana, in which the Indian delegation was headed by JS (CE). It is Slovenia’s turn to hold the next FOC. The bilateral Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation (JCTEC) has so far held eight sessions. The 8th Session of India-Slovenia JCTEC was held on July 16, 2013 in New Delhi. It is now Slovenia’s turn to host the JCTEC.
Total bilateral trade in 2018 increased by 33.79% from EUR 270.01 million to EUR 361.25 million. Indian exports to Slovenia increased by 36.57% from EUR 183.52 million to EUR 250.61 million and Indian import from Slovenia increased by 29.15% from EUR 86.49 million to EUR 110.64 million. This is the highest commodity trade between the two countries during the period 2014-2018.India has continuously enjoyed a trade surplus with Slovenia. Slovenia identified India as one of its strategic focus markets in 2013.
India has continuously enjoyed a trade surplus with Slovenia. Main items of imports from India include pharmaceutical products, organic chemicals, mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, coffee, tea and spices, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof, articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica or similar material, plastic and articles thereof, iron and steel, etc. Main items of export from Slovenia to India include machinery and mechanical appliances, organic chemicals, iron and steel, electric machinery and equipment, plastic and articles thereof, paper and paperboard, articles of paper pulp, aircraft, wood and articles thereof, rubber and articles thereof, etc.
International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE): India is a member of International Center for Public Enterprises (ICPE), a multilateral organization with its headquarters in Ljubljana. Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) is the nodal agency in the Government of India for ICPE.
Science and Technology: The bilateral S&T programmes between the two countries are being pursued under the bilateral Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation signed between India and Slovenia in January 1995 in New Delhi. A Joint Working Group (JWG) on Scientific and Technological Cooperation has been set up to sign executive Programmes of Cooperation (PoC) concluded for a specified period. The 4th India-Slovenia JWG on S&T met in New Delhi in November 2014 and identified joint projects for implementation for the period 2015-17. Both sides are in direct contact for finalizing next PoC.
The bilateral S&T programmes between the two countries are being pursued under the bilateral Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation signed between India and Slovenia in January 1995 in New Delhi. A Joint Working Group (JWG) on Scientific and Technological Cooperation finalizes executive Programmes of Cooperation (PoC) concluded for a specified period. Programme of Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the Ministry of Science and Technology of India and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia for the period 2020-2022 was signed during Rashtrapatiji’s visit to Slovenia from 15-17 September 2019.
Culture and Education – The Programme of Cooperation in the fields of Culture, Arts, Education, Sports and Mass Media for the period 2019-24 was signed during Rashtrapatiji’s visit to Slovenia from 15-17 September 2019 under the Cultural Agreement for cooperation in the fields of culture, arts, education, sports and mass media signed in December 1996.
Although, Ayurveda is an official practice in Slovenia, it is classified as a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practice (also in the law it is defined as Traditional Indian Medicine) and not as a healthcare practice. The Embassy, with the support of the Ministry of AYUSH, is running an AYUSH Information Centre to promote and disseminate information pertaining to traditional medicine system of India and Yoga.
A Hindi Chair was functional in the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana from 2009-2013. The Mission is facilitating Hindi classes in the University of Ljubljana. An India Corner was opened in May 2018 in the Library of the University of Ljubljana by the Mission.
Slovenian educational institutions such as Joseph Stephen, National Institute of Chemistry and University of Maribor are getting popular among Indian research scholars, coming under Erasamus Scholarship and other programmes.
There are three busts of important Indian personalities in Slovenia – (i) Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in Maribor; (ii) Mahatma Gandhi in Slovenje Gradec; and (iii) Jawarhar Lal Nehru in Gorinska Brda.
Given Slovenia’s beautiful and diverse landscape, some Indian films, especially from South India, were shot in different locations of Slovenia.
Visa - In 2013, an agreement on Short-Stay Visa Waiver for Holders of Diplomatic Passports was signed between the two countries. Since April 2017, India has been issuing five-year multiple entry tourist and business visa to Slovenian citizens. Since August 2015, Slovenian citizens are also entitled for e-visa.
Transport and connectivity- There is no direct air connectivity between India and Slovenia.
Indian Community: There is a very small Indian community of about 200, comprising mainly of students and PIOs.
Mission’s website: http://eoiljubljana@gov.in
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indiainslovenia
Last update: February 2020
