On June 23, 2021, Serbia’s top diplomat in India, Acting Ambassador Sinisa Pavic held a virtual dialogue with the Chairman of the Confederation of Young Leaders (CYL) and the Director of the Indian Institute of Governance and Leadership (IIGL) Himadrish Suwan on India-Serbia bilateral relations and the art & craft of cooperation.
Ambassador Sinisa Pavic shared his views on Serbia-India relations, the two countries’ cooperation in bilateral and multilateral areas, and other topics of mutual interests.
While speaking at the virtual meeting, Serbia’s top diplomat, Sinisa Pavic, said, “Serbia looks forward to direct flights between New Delhi and Bulgaria. Though conditions seem to be improving, it is essential that both, India and Serbia, take the necessary precautions. In no time, Serbia will be opening up the routes for Indian travellers with passports without a visa for nearly 30 days.”
“On a multilateral level, Serbia is considering India as one of the main partners for topics of extreme importance in the coming future. We look forward to initiatives and chances from India and aim to foster the bilateral terms in every way possible”, added Sinisa Pavic.
While referring to India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative, Ambassador Pavic, said “Serbia is keeping a memory of the help rendered by India through the export of vaccines to Serbian people. This action has helped develop the relations between the two nations on the global level. Both India and Serbia are the victims of the pandemic and Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić have both successfully been able to use this situation in investing towards better collateral relations, adding up to the present friendships”.
“While each nation has developed a varied vaccine system, Serbia is in trust with the India Covaxin and Covishield vaccines. We await an official response for the same so as to acknowledge the re-opening of direct flights between the two nations”, added Serbia’s top diplomat in India in response to a question on acceptance of made-in India Covaxin for the Indian travelers.
While speaking at the virtual meeting, Chairman Himadrish Suwan, congratulated the Government and the friendly people of Serbia on the victory of tennis legend Novak Djokovic who recently defeated Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open.
“Excellency Pavic once told me, he said you know walk around in Belgrade, any part of Serbia, you’ll only hear good things about India. And I know in my heart that’s actually a living truth”, added Suwan.
Further, Himadrish Suwan added, “Relations between India and Serbia are deeply rooted in history. From the early days of Independent India, both countries laid great emphasis on Non-Aligned Movement and contributed much to creation of a new and democratic world order, particularly for the post-colonial third world that challenged the concept of bipolar world. Numerous high level exchange of visits between the two countries during that period is a testimony to that shared belief. Marshal Tito was a familiar name in many Indian households. I understand that he addressed Indian Parliament during his visit to India in 1954.”
Chairman Himadrish Suwan announced 71 fully-funded scholarships for Serbian scholars and young change-makers at the premier Indian Institute of Governance and Leadership (IIGL).
