Syllabus: 

GS2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Context: 

The Indian Prime Minister’s concluded his visit to Croatia, where he held talks with the Balkan nation's top leadership on a range of issues to boost bilateral ties.

More on the News

• The Prime Minister went to Croatia on the last leg of his three-nation tour, which included Cyprus and Canada.
• Croatia is largely being seen through the angle of strategic messaging and exploring new vistas for cooperation across sectors. 
• India has decided to give a "three-time" pace to the bilateral ties and said a plan would be made to boost defence cooperation between the two countries. 
• The two nations also signed four memoranda of cooperation in the areas of agriculture, culture, and science. 
• Another memorandum was signed between the ICCR and the University of Zagreb, related to the study of Indology.

India – Croatia Ties

• India was among the first non-European nations to recognise Croatia’s independence in May 1992, establishing diplomatic ties by July.
• Croatia opened its mission in New Delhi in 1995, followed by India’s mission in Zagreb in 1996. Ties were upgraded to an ambassadorial level in 1998.
• The relationship has remained cordial since the days of Yugoslavia, when Croatia accounted for more than two-thirds of bilateral trade. 
• Tito, an important pillar of the Non-Aligned Movement, was of mixed Croat and Slovenia parentage and maintained very friendly relations with India and its then leadership.
• Friendly ties continued through the 1990s, even as Croatia dealt with post-Yugoslavia conflicts and pursued EU and NATO membership.

Significance of the Visit 

• Significant Gateway to Europe: Croatia’s Adriatic coast and key ports like Rijeka, Split, and Ploce make it a vital gateway for India to access Europe via major transport corridors like the planned Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
• Bilateral Trade: India-Croatia trade rose from $199.45 million in 2017 to $337.68 million in 2023. India exports medicines, chemicals, and machinery, while Croatia exports chemicals, instruments, timber, and oils.

Cultural Ties: 

• India and Croatia share deep cultural ties; notably, Croatian scholar Ivan Filip Vezdin printed the first Sanskrit grammar book in 1790.
• The Croatians also played an important role in the construction of the Church of Sao Braz in Goa in the 1560s. Indian cultural traditions remain a significant attraction in Croatian universities today.

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC): Croatia’s location positions it as a key hub in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. 

• Extension of IMEC to the Adriatic will connect India with the Central and Eastern European nations that are also part of the Three Sea Initiative (3SI), a north-south axis of trade and energy cooperation among 12 countries (including Croatia).

Counter China’s Narrative: The visit was aimed at giving new energy to bilateral relations with Croatia and facilitating India’s broader engagement with the Balkans, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which has seen significant Chinese investments through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 

• It is imperative that India specifically focuses on this region and does not let its engagement with Western Europe guide its relations with the CEE countries, which are at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and many of whom support India’s bid for permanent membership in the UNSC.