Zagreb, Jun 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday scripted history as he landed in Zagreb on the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Croatia, marking an important milestone in bilateral relationship.

Zagreb is the last stop on PM Modi's three-nation tour, which also included visits to Cyprus en route to Canada for Tuesday's G7 Summit in Kananaskis.

"I look forward to my visit to the Republic of Croatia and meetings with President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Both our countries enjoy centuries-old close cultural links. As the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Croatia, it will open new avenues for bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest," Prime Minister Modi said on Sunday.

He had asserted that the three-nation tour is also an opportunity to thank partner countries for their steadfast support to India in India's fight against cross-border terrorism, and to galvanise global understanding on tackling terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Analysts reckon that the first-ever visit by Indian PM to Croatia will help in fostering stronger political and economic collaboration with Croatia. It will also provide a crucial opportunity to expand bilateral cooperation in various sectors including trade, innovation, defence, ports, shipping, science and tech, cultural exchange, and workforce mobility.

India and Croatia have close cooperation in trade, investment, defence, agriculture sectors amongst others, and also cooperate in international fora, vibrant cultural exchanges and close people-to-people ties.

The bilateral trade between both nations stands at about USD 300 million with the Indian investments in Croatia being roughly around USD 48 million.

Prime Minister Modi briefly interacted with Croatian PM Plenkovic at COP-26 in 2021 and the virtual India-EU Leaders Meeting the same year.

Former President Ramnath Kovind undertook State Visit to Croatia in March 2019, during which he was conferred with Croatia's highest civilian honor ('the Grand Order of the King of Tomislav').

India has been well known in Croatia for centuries, and the earliest Croatian visitors to India were missionaries. Links have been found between the Principality of Dubrovnik and Goa, and the Church of Sao Braz was reportedly built by Croatians around 1563 in Goa.

The Indian community in Croatia has changed over the last three years rapidly due to demographic situation in Croatia where a lot of foreign workers are being employed for carrying out work in different sectors of economy.

There were approximately 17000 Indians residing in Croatia in December 2024. Many of the Indian workers are working on short to medium term contracts and therefore at least, 90 per cent of the people among currently residing are those who form a part of the mobile population staying in Croatia for a specific contractual period.

(IANS)

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