President Murmu to embark on two nation State visit from April 6

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu will Sunday embark on four-day State visits to Portugal and the Slovak Republic, during which the developments on the proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may also be discussed.

During the "historic" presidential visits taking place after a gap of more than 27 years, Murmu will meet the presidents, the prime ministers, the speakers and other important dignitaries of the two countries, the External Affairs Ministry said Friday.

She will also meet he members of the Indian diaspora and likely visit a Jaguar Land Rover plant in Nitra, Slovakia.

In response to a question, External Affairs Ministry Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal said the visits at a Head-of-State level convey a "very, very important signal" that the momentum of a series of high-level engagements that have taken place in last seven to eight years "is strongly carried forward".

"Both these State Visits are coming at an important time in the individual, bilateral partnerships. They are coming after a considerable period but also at a very, very important moment in our partnership. And these will provide a very strong push to our ties--both with Portugal and with Slovakia," Lal told reporters in a briefing.

President Murmu will start the first leg of her visit in Portugal on Monday at the invitation of the President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The State Visit comes on the 50 years of re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During the state visit to Portugal, which comes after 27 years by an Indian President, Murmu will hold delegation-level talks with her counterpart President Sousa. She will also meet Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and the President of the National Assembly (Parliament), Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco.

"Along with the President of the Portuguese republic, she (President Murmu) will release a commemorative stamp celebrating the important milestone of the golden jubilee of the re-establishment of our diplomatic relations," a statement from the Indian Embassy in Lisbon said.

The president will also meet the members of the Indian diaspora from a cross sections of the society and Indian researchers from various universities.

"Portugal has always played a very important role in deepening the India-EU partnership...Way back in 2000 during the Portuguese presidency, the first India-EU Summit had been hosted by them. And also, in 2021, the first-ever leaders' Summit between India and the EU where all the leaders from all individual EU partner countries attended this Summit. India-Portugal relationship has a very strong element of India-EU Partnership," Lal said.

"Yes...areas of all mutual interests will be discussed," he said in response to a question if India-EU FTA will come up during the discussions.

The second leg of the visit, to the Slovak Republic, will take place on April 9-10, which will be the first by an Indian President in 29 years.

President Murmu will hold bilateral meetings with President Peter Pellegrini, Prime Minister Robert Fico and meet the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Richard Rasi.

The president is also likely to visit Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia, which was inaugurated in 2018.

The plant, built with an investment of 1.4 billion Euros, has a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles.

The Slovak government supported the investment with 125 million Euros in aid. The facility covers 30-35 per cent of total JLR business.

The president will meet members of the Indian community in the Slovak Republic, which has strong cultural links with India.

"In 2022, during the evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine, Slovakia had extended very valuable help. India-Slovakia relations are also important in the context of the India-EU partnership. In fact, Slovakia joined the EU when India and the EU launched a strategic partnership. So, both these State visits are coming at an important time in the individual, bilateral Partnerships," Lal said.