FM Szijjártó: Cooperation with India in Hungary’s fundamental interest

Hungary has a fundamental interest in forging the strongest possible cooperation with India, the foreign minister said after talks with counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Already the world’s most populous country, India is expected to become the world’s third largest economy within years, and its weight in global politics is growing, Péter Szijjártó said on Facebook.

Therefore, the closest possible cooperation with India “is in Hungary’s fundamental interest”, he said. “That’s made all the easier as we see the urgent issues of world politics similarly,” he said, adding that India was pro-peace, opposed the politisation of international organisations and promoted ending armed conflicts through negotiation.

Bilateral trade between Hungary and India came to one billion euros last year, and large Indian corporations such as Tata Consultancy Services and car industry suppliers Motherson and Apollo have launched “enormous investments” in Hungary, he said.

The number of Indian students vying to study in Hungary hit a record in 2023, with 2,400 students applying for 200 governmnent grants, he added.

Szijjártó said establishing a direct flight between the two countries was an “important task” and would smooth economic cooperation.

During its EU presidency in the second half of the year, Szijjártó pledged that Hungary would “restart talks on free trade between the EU and India, and start coordination on investment protection and on protecting designation of origin.”