Murmu's first North Macedonia visit seals plan to double bilateral trade

Skopje,UPDATED: Jul 21, 2026 17:08 IST

India and North Macedonia on Tuesday agreed to double bilateral trade and discussed cooperation in sectors such as tourism, hospitality and filmmaking during President Droupadi Murmu’s two-day visit to the country. Murmu, on the first visit by any Indian head of state to North Macedonia, held talks with President Gordana Sijanovska-Davkova, followed by delegation-level discussions.

Murmu said the two sides reviewed the full spectrum of ties and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. She said the two countries reaffirmed their deep and friendly relationship, based on shared democratic values and mutual respect, and expressed confidence that the visit would further strengthen the partnership in the years ahead.

Speaking after the talks, Murmu said, “Economic cooperation is an extremely important pillar of our bilateral relationship and the two countries agreed to promote greater trade and investment and encourage closer cooperation between our businesses.” She added, “We also agreed to double our bilateral trade. We discussed cooperation in key sectors, including IT/ITES, agriculture, food processing, pharmaceuticals, textile and bio-tech, tourism, hospitality, and filmmaking.”

She said culture and people-to-people ties have always been among the strongest pillars of relations between the two countries, and noted that collaboration in the creative industry is an important part of cultural exchanges. The two nations also agreed to strengthen cooperation in healthcare, particularly to promote traditional systems of medicine.

Murmu said India seeks to build international cooperation through initiatives such as the Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Global Biofuels Alliance, and welcomed “North Macedonia's intent to join these initiatives”. She also announced India’s decision to double the number of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation training slots for North Macedonia, which will include courses in Artificial Intelligence.

Earlier in the day, Murmu was received by President Sijanovska-Davkova and accorded a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour. She had arrived on Monday night for the two-day visit after concluding her visit to Moldova, the first ever by an Indian President. At the airport, she was welcomed by North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Timcho Mucunski. The visit centred on expanding bilateral cooperation, with both sides agreeing to deepen ties across trade, culture, healthcare and global initiatives.

With PTI Inputs

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