Indo-Macedonia Bilateral Relations

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995, relations between India and Macedonia have continued to grow. India was one of the 40 co-sponsors of the Resolution in the UNGA for the admission of the Republic of Macedonia. Through an exchange of letters at the level of the Permanent Representatives of the two countries to the UN in New York, India established diplomatic and consular relations with the Republic of Macedonia on February 9, 1995.

In 2006, an Indian Businessman Mr. Lachman Das Mittal in New Delhi was appointed Honorary Consul General of Macedonia in India. In October 2008, the Republic of Macedonia opened its Embassy in New Delhi. The Government of India also opened its Honorary Consulate in Macedonia in 2008, the formal inauguration of which was held in December 2008.

Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E Mr. Antonio Milososki paid an official visit to New Delhi from 19-23 January 2009, which was the first high-level visit from either side. He met with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He also paid a visit to Kolkata and to the memorial home of Mother Teresa, where a commemorative plate as sign of gratitude on behalf of the Macedonian citizens was placed. He also met with the Finance Minister of West Bengal and the Mayor of Kolkata. Minister Milososki also officially opened Macedonia's Embassy in New Delhi. An agreement for abolishment of visa regime in respect of diplomatic passport holders of both the countries was signed during the visit.

  Important Bilateral Treaties and Agreements :

1. Agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders, signed in January 2009.

2. Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which came into force in October 2008.

Agreement on Economic Cooperation, Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation, Agreement for Cultural Cooperation, Agreement in the field of Culture and Sports, Agreement for Cooperation in Customs matters and MoU between the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi and Macedonian Diplomatic Institute are in various stages of processing.

  Bilateral Visits:

• A delegation comprising of 25 sports-persons and officials nominated by the Ministry of Defence of Macedonia participated in the 4th edition of the World Military Games held in Hyderabad, India from October 21, 2007.
• A four member Macedonian delegation headed by Mr. Vasko Grkov, Counsellor for Bilateral Relations with Non-European countries paid a visit to India during September 25-28, 2007. Mr. Grkov met with Mr. V.Ashok, Joint Secretary (CE) in the Ministry of External Affairs and discussed various issues concerning bilateral relations between the two countries. Mr. Grkov also met with Dr. Rahul Khullar, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce and with Mrs. Anita Kapur, Joint Secretary in the Department of Revenue, Central Board of Direct Taxes. During the visit, an Indo-Macedonian Friendship Group comprising of eminent persons was also constituted in India.
• A well-known Indian poet Mr. K.N. Daruwalla attended the Struga Poetry Evenings in August, 2007 in Struga, Macedonia.
• A three member delegation led by Shri K.C. Singh, AS(IO) including Ambassador Lal Dingliana and Shri V.Ashok, JS(CE) visited Macedonia in connection with the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of India during July 16-17, 2007. The Macedonian side was led by H.E Mr. Igor Ilievski, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia. Bilateral issues of cooperation including strengthening of the cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and attracting investments from India to the Republic of Macedonia; possibilities for finalization of the legal framework and for signing economic agreements between the two countries; exchange of opinions on international and regional issues, including foreign-policy priorities and situation in the immediate neighbourhood of both countries were the subject of discussions. The delegation also called on H.E Mr. Ivo Ivanvoski, Minister of Information Society and discussed the promotion of cooperation in the field of information technologies.
• A Macedonian sportsman Mr. Emil Ilik met with the Mayor of Kolkata Shri Bikash Bhattacharya on May 31, 2007 to hand him over the Mother Teresa Award for 2007 as well as a plaque by the Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia Ljibisha Georgievski.
• Prof. Svetomir Skarik and Mrs. Olga Skarik from the Department of law of the University of Skopje, participated in the Conference on Peace, Non-Violence and Empowerment – Gandhian philosophy in the 21st century on January 29-30, 2007 in New Delhi organised on the occasion of the Satyagraha Centenary celebrations.
• A three-member delegation comprising of one member each from Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Law led by Shri Dipak Kumar Singh, Deputy Secretary (Investment), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance held negotiations for finalization of Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA) in Skopje on June 8. Later both sides initialized the BIPPA text at the expert level on June 9, 2006.
• On September 22, 2005 along the sidelines of 60th UN General Assembly, Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva met with former Indian Foreign Minister Shri Natwar Singh.
• A Macedonian Foreign Ministry delegation comprising State Secretary Emil Kirijas and Ms. Bogatinova Kostovska Dzulija, State Counsellor visited India on April 6, 2005 and discussed bilateral issues with senior officials of the Ministry of External affairs of India.
• Macedonian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Faud Hasanovic signed a Protocol on Foreign Office Consultation between Macedonian and Indian Foreign Ministries on February 11, 2004 in New Delhi. It was the first bilateral agreement between Macedonia and India.
• A Macedonian delegation led by the Minister without Portfolio (in charge of Religious Affairs) Vlado Naumovski visited India to attend Mother Teresa’s funeral in 1997.

  Commercial and Economic Relations :

Bilateral trade between the two countries does not speak volumes given the friendly and cordial relations between the two countries. In fact both countries are still trying to discover each other’s potential in respect of trade and economic relations. Macedonia has got the EU candidate status in December 2005. It is entitled to duty-free exports to EU member-countries and that Indian manufacturers/exporters, especially those who have already established presence of their products in EU member-countries, could establish their industrial units in Macedonia for exporting their end-products to EU member-countries.

In 2004, Arcelor-Mitttal took over the Macedonian company “Balkan Steel” and has also bought the state-owned shares, which amount at under 30% of the ownership structure.

   Indo - Macedonian Trade:

According to trade statistics released by the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce during the last five years (as per details below), there has been trade surplus in India’s favour:

  Major Indian Exports to Macedonia:

copper products; zinc products (not alloyed); agricultural tractors and forestry tractors; oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; coffee; pharmaceuticals particularly antibiotics; other vehicles; ferro-silico-manganese; inorganic chemicals etc.

  Major Macedonian Exports to India:

Ferronickel; Marble, travertine and alabaster; parts of railway or tramway locomotives or rolling-stock, brakes and parts etc; gaskets and similar joints of metal sheeting; goods for further processing; items of vulcanised rubber for technical uses, for use in civil aircraft; printed circuits etc.

  Cooperation under ITEC and PCFD Programmes:

Macedonia nationals have been availing of ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) scholarships to undergo training in various institutes of India under the ITEC program of Ministry of External Affairs of India. In 2007-08, all the five allotted slots were utilized by Macedonian nationals. Two Macedonian nationals were granted ITEC scholarships in the financial year 2008-09. Macedonian nationals have also been attending the Professional Courses for Foreign Diplomats (PCFD) organized by the Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi under MEA.

  Culture

A festival of Indian feature films was held in Skopje from May 30 to June 3, 2005 at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Five classic Bengali films of Satyajit Ray viz. Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Ghare-Baire, Ganashatru and Agantuk were screened. The festival was organized by Museum of Contemporary Art while the cassettes in VHS format were sent by External Publicity Division.

There is a good potential for cultural exchanges between the two countries. Shankar’s International Painting Competition is very famous in Skopje and Macedonian children participate regularly in this competition. Indian poets have also taken part in the Struga Poetry Evening Festival which is held annually in the last week of August.

  Air-Links with India :

There are no direct air-links between any cities of India and Macedonia. However, the indirect air-connections are through Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, Sofia etc.

  Contact Details of Honorary Consul of India to Republic of Macedonia :

Mr. Krste Isirov
Str."8" bb, Vizbegovo,
1000 Skopje
Теl: 00-389-2-2603 603
Fax : 00-389-2-2603 646
E-mail: krste.isirov@indianconsulate.org.mk
maja.kamceva@indianconsulate.org.mk
info@indianconsulate.org.mk

  Contact Details of the Embassy of Republic of Macedonia in New Delhi :

Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia in India
"Svelte Personal suites", Suite 505
A-3 District Center, Saket
New Delhi-110017
Email : india@investinmacedonia.com
Telephone :(91) 11-40512000