India, Serbia take stock of overall ties

India and Serbia on Friday carried out a comprehensive review of their ties in the areas of trade, defence, science and technology, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

The two sides also discussed developments in India's neighbourhood and the situation in Ukraine at the eighth foreign office consultations held in Delhi, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"The consultations comprehensively reviewed existing bilateral ties, covering areas of interest such as trade and economic relations, defence, science & technology, research and development, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, culture, and people-to-people ties," the MEA said.

It said the two sides also expressed satisfaction about their strong cooperation in the multilateral fora.

"Both sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including developments in India's neighbourhood, Ukraine, and the United Nations. India's priorities as President of G20, and its endeavour to take up the cause of Global South, were also shared with the Serbian side," it said in a statement.

Separately, India and the Netherlands explored ways to expand their cooperation in the cyber domain.

The two sides discussed contemporary topics of importance in cyberspace as well as a range of "high-profile" issues of mutual interest at the second cyber dialogue held here on Friday, the MEA said.

"The second India-Netherlands cyber dialogue was held in the context of recent developments in global cyberspace and to build a comprehensive and deeper cyber cooperation between respective cyber agencies/departments in India and the Netherlands," the MEA said.

It said the cyber dialogue provided both the countries a platform to discuss contemporary topics of importance in cyberspace and a range of high-profile issues of mutual interest.

"Discussions at this dialogue included strategic priorities, cyber threat assessment, next generation telecommunications (including 5G technology), capacity building (including the Indo-Dutch Cybersecurity School) and cooperation in multilateral fora, and the latest developments in cyber at the United Nations," the MEA said.

It said India and the Netherlands agreed to explore opportunities for further collaboration with the involvement of respective stakeholders.

The Indian delegation consisted of senior officials from the MEA, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), CERT-In and National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).

The delegation from the Netherlands comprised senior officials from the Cyber Task Force of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.