President Kovind thanks Slovenia for supporting India\'s fight against terrorism

Ljubljana: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday thanked Slovenia for understanding and supporting India on issues of core concerns, including cross-border terrorism.

Kovind who met his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor here discussed various issues relating to cooperation in high-tech, clean technology, robotics and artificial intelligence.

The president, who reached Slovenian capital Ljubljana earlier in the day, is on the concluding leg of his nine-day three-nation visit to Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia.

During the bilateral meeting between Kovind and Pahor, the two sides exchanged seven MoUs and Programmes of Cooperation in the fields of investment, sports, culture, river rejuvenation (Clean Ganga Mission), science and technology and standards.

Kovind thanked Pahor for Slovenia's support to fight cross-border terrorism and for understanding India's core concerns on the issue, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

"We also agreed that terrorism was one of the gravest challenges confronting humanity today and that the world should come together to defeat and destroy these evil forces," he said.

India's growth and Slovenia's technology and manufacturing capacity complement each other, the president said, noting that the central European nation has a niche in the field of Artificial Intelligence, defence equipment and clean water technologies. Both leaders discussed cooperation in high-tech, clean technology, robotics and artificial intelligence.

He sought Slovenia's continued support for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a 48-member grouping which regulates the global nuclear commerce.

China is the only major country which has been blocking India's entry into the NSG. Kovind also expressed his gratitude to Pahor for Slovenia's support for India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

India has been at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for urgent long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasising that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

The two sides also renewed their commitment to strengthen global action to combat climate change.