'Historic occasion': Jaishankar describes first V4+India Foreign Ministers meeting

India and the four-member Visegrad group of Central European countries on Monday (September 21, 2026) agreed to step up political, economic and defence cooperation at their first Foreign Ministers' meeting, which External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar described as a “new historic occasion”.

The Visegrad Group (V4) is a cultural and political alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia that aims to advance cooperation in military, economic, cultural, and energy affairs.

The first meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the Visegrad Group and India was held on Monday (September 21, 2026), on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

Mr Jaishankar met with Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radek Sikorski; Hungary's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Anita Orban; Slovakia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Juraj Blanar; and the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Petr Macinka.