In News
∙ India signed bilateral cooperation agreements with the Czech Republic at the Vibrant Gujarat summit.
Key Points
∙ India and Czech Republic have agreed to strengthen mutual ties and tap into untapped potential for innovation cooperation.
∙ Their collaboration is set to extend across various areas, including new and emerging technologies, automobiles, climate change, and defence.
India-Czech Republic Bilateral Relations
∙ Historic Linkages: India’s relations with former Czechoslovakia and with present Czech Republic, have always been warm, friendly and have a long history.
∙ In the medieval ages, the Kingdom of Bohemia (now a part of Czech Republic) traded with India in precious goods and Indian spices.
∙ During the Czech National Revival- a cultural movement which took place during the 18th and 19th centuries with the purpose of reviving the Czech language, culture and national identity, prominent Czech scholars got inspired by ancient Indian culture.
∙ Diplomatic relations:They were established with Czechoslovakia on 18 November, 1947.
∙ After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993, India immediately recognized the Czech Republic.
∙ Economic and Commercial Relations: The bilateral economic relations gained momentum after the Czech Republic gained entry into the European Union in 2004.
∙ New mechanisms and diversified interaction thereafter resulted in revival of bilateral trade to more than US $ 3.16 billion in 2022, from just US $ 86 million in 1993 as per Czech statistics.
∙ Defence Cooperation: The bilateral Defence Cooperation gained momentum with the signing of MoU on Bilateral Defence Cooperation in October 2003.
∙ Accordingly, a Joint Defence Committee has been set up.
∙ The Czech defence companies have been regularly supplying military equipment to Indian armed forces.
∙ Science and Technology Cooperation: India and Czech Republic are working in niche technologies given the latter’s strength as the incubator of Technologies in strategic sectors such as defence, nuclear energy, cyber security, AI, Big Data, nanotechnology, laser etc.
Do you know?
∙ The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe.
∙ It is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east.
∙ Its capital and largest city is Prague.
∙ It consists of five main geographic regions: the Bohemian Mountains, the
ο In June 2017, ISRO launched Czech nanosatellite -VZLUSAT-1 (size 20 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and weight 2 kg), the first Czech technological satellite. Its mission is to verify new products and technologies on Earth’s orbit.
ο Multilateral Cooperation: The Czech Republic strongly supported India’s full membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) through its constructive role in NSG and in EU deliberations.
ο Educational and Tourism Cooperation: Indology has a very old tradition in Prague, starting with the establishment of a Chair in Sanskrit in the prestigious Charles University in the 1850s.
∙ Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil are currently taught in this University.
∙ In January 2020 Czech Foreign Minister announced an expansion in quota for fast track visas for highly skilled/professionals from India.
∙ The Czech Republic is a popular destination for Indian tourists.
ο Indian Community: Approximately 9000 Indian nationals- mostly IT professionals, business personnel and students residing in the Czech Republic.
