India’s Modi visits Croatia with EU trade on agenda

ZAGREB: Narendra Modi will visit Croatia on Wednesday, the first time an Indian prime minister has toured the Balkan nation, in a sign of increasing ties with the European Union.

Modi will visit the EU member on his way back from the G7 Summit in Canada, following an earlier stop in Cyprus.

Croatian newspaper Vecernji List reported on Tuesday that a key focus of discussions will be a proposed trade route between Europe, the Middle East and India – an investment touted to rival Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“As the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Croatia, it will open new avenues for bilateral cooperation,” Modi said in a statement ahead of the trip.

He will meet Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic and President Zoran Milanovic in Zagreb during a visit that was initially scheduled for mid-May, but got pushed back because of an escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan.

European leaders are increasingly looking to other trading partners in response to US President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on the bloc, which are now flagged to increase in July.

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The EU is India’s second-largest trading partner, accounting for 120 billion euros (US$138 billion) worth of trade in goods in 2024 – more than 11 percent of total Indian trade, according to the EU.

First proposed in 2023, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor would be a railway and maritime route linking the regions and is seen as a potential counter to growing Chinese investment.

Although trade between India and Croatia remains relatively small, Croatia, suffering from a chronic workforce shortage, has been attracting more Indian workers.

China has pumped billions of dollars into the Balkans in recent years to expand its economic footprint in central Europe.