Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon and her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed interest in upgrading bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, advanced technologies, green transition and science as they held talks in New Delhi on 17 March.

"We are strengthening cooperation with India. We've held a Slovenian-Indian Science and Innovation Day twice, a regional hub of innovative technologies and a partnership on water management have been set up. We expect to upgrade the EU-India strategic partnership, including with a free trade agreement," Fajon said in a post on X.

Jaishankar said in a post on X that he "appreciated her assessment, as a current UN Security Council member, of global challenges".

The meeting was held in the run-up to Raisina Dialogue, India's flagship international conference, where Fajon participate in the panel Compete and Cooperate: Securing the Future alongside the Egyptian trade minister and Georgian foreign minister, examining the outlines of the emerging geo-economic order.

The panellists focussed on ways of striking balance in security interests of countries with open and sustainable economies, and adjusting to geopolitical tensions and changes.

"We are surrounded by security risks, economic nationalisms, the world order is under severe threat," said Fajon.

"For Europe and Slovenia, this is both a challenge and an opportunity, if we have the courage and strong leadership," she said.

Fajon said that history has shown that tariffs and trade wars damage societies. "Slovenia supports a predictable, rules-based economic environment and strengthening partnerships with countries with similar values."