New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Janez Jansa on his election as Slovenia’s Prime Minister and expressed readiness to working closely with him to further strengthen bilateral ties.

“Heartiest congratulations to Mr. Janez Jansa on his election as the Prime Minister of Slovenia. I look forward to working closely with him to further strengthen our bilateral ties for the shared prosperity and mutual benefit of our people,” PM Modi posted on X.

On May 22, Slovenia National Assembly appointed Janez Jansa as Slovenia’s PM in a secret ballot, with 51 votes in favour in the 90-seat parliament, Balkan Insight reported.

Jansa will serve his fourth term as Slovenia’s PM despite his Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) having narrowly failed to secure win in the elections in March, as per the report.

In November, India and Slovenia discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation, including in trade, tourism and technology.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, “Secretary (West) Sibi George received delegation from the Republic of Slovenia led by Mr. Peter Japelj, DG for Economic, Cultural and Scientific Diplomacy, MoFA Slovenia. They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation, including in 3 Ts – Trade, Technology and Tourism.”

India and Slovenia also held the 10th session of the India–Slovenia Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation (JCTEC) in New Delhi last November. The two nations expressed optimism for the early conclusion of a balanced and mutually beneficial India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Bilateral trade between India and Slovenia has shown a consistent upward trajectory over the past several years, reflecting the growing depth and resilience of the partnership.

The officials reviewed the current state of bilateral economic engagement, strengthen cooperation across key sectors, and charted a forward-looking roadmap for trade and investment between the two nations.

“The discussions included a comprehensive review of the global and domestic economic landscape, as well as an assessment of bilateral trade and investment relations between the two countries. Sectoral cooperation was explored across agriculture, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, health, transport, energy, tourism, MSMEs, and Ayurveda and traditional systems of medicine, as well as other trade and business-related matters,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in the statement.

–IANS

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