Croatia–India relations

Croatia-India relations

Croatia	India

Croatia and India officially established diplomatic relations on 9 July 1992 following Croatia's independence from SFR Yugoslavia. ^[1]

Croatia is represented in India through its embassy in New Delhi and consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata. ^[1] India is represented in Croatia through its embassy in Zagreb. ^[2]

Bilateral agreements

The Indian Embassy of Croatia lists the following agreements and MoUs ^[3]

Agreements

• Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (1994).
• Maritime Transport Agreement (1997).
• Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Culture, Science and Technology, Education and Sports (1999).
• Agreement on cooperation between the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia and the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Ministry of External Affairs (2000).
• Air Services Agreement (2000).
• Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (2001).
• Agreement on cooperation in the Fight against International Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Terrorism etc. (2001). First meeting of the Joint Committee held in Zagreb (2004).
• Agreement on Agricultural Cooperation (2002).
• Agreement on exemption of visa requirement for holders of Diplomatic and Official/Service Passports (2007).
• Agreement on Cooperation in Health and Medicine (June 2010).
• Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and for the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income (DTAA) (signed in February 2014).

MoUs

• MoU between the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) and the EXIM Bank of India (2000).
• MoU between Export Credit & Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd. (ECGC) and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR (2002).
• MoU on cooperation in Information Technology: signed between Electronics & Computer Software Export Promotion Council of India and the Croatian Information Technology Society (2004).
• Exchange Programme in the field of Culture for 2005–07 (2005).
• Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology for 2005–08 (2005).
• Educational Exchange Programme (2006).
• Programme of Cooperation in the field of Culture for 2010–12 (June 2010).
• MoU between ICCR and the University of Zagreb on the establishment of ICCR Chair of Hindi for 2012–2019 (signed on 17 October 2012).

Historical background

Genetic findings in 2012 suggest the Romani people in Croatia originated in northwestern India and migrated to Europe as a group. ^{[4] [5] [6]} Romani people were mentioned for the first time in the Republic of Ragusa in 1362 in some commercial records. ^[7] In February 2016, during the International Roma Conference, the Indian Minister of External Affairs stated that the people of the Roma community were children of India. The conference ended with a recommendation to the Government of India to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the Indian diaspora. ^[8]

Croatian sailors and merchants from the Republic of Ragusa may have established contact with Goa, India, in the 16th century. ^[9]

From 1943 onwards, the Independent State of Croatia formally recognised the Azad Hind government as the government of India, until 1945, when both governments collapsed. ^[10]

See also

• Foreign relations of Croatia
• Foreign relations of India
• India–Yugoslavia relations
• Yugoslavia and the Non-Aligned Movement
• Brioni Meeting

Notes

1. "MVEP • Diplomatic Missions and Consular Offices of Croatia • India, Kolkata". mvep.hr. Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Republic of Croatia. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.
2. "MVEP • Diplomatic Missions and Consular Offices to Croatia • India, Zagreb". mvep.hr.
3. "Welcome to Embassy of India, Zagreb (Croatia)". www.indianembassy.hr. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
4. Mendizabal, Isabel (6 December 2012). "Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-wide Data". Current Biology. 22 (24): 2342–2349. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.039 . hdl: 10230/25348 . PMID   23219723.
5. Sindya N. Bhanoo (11 December 2012). "Genomic Study Traces Roma to Northern India". New York Times.
6. "5 Intriguing Facts About the Roma". Live Science. 23 October 2013.
7. "Ured vlade za nacionalne manjine-Obilježja Roma u RH". Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
8. "Can Romas be part of Indian diaspora?". khaleejtimes.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
9. Tomas, Lora (19 May 2014). "Distant liaisons" . Himal Southasian.
10. Mookerjee, Girija (1975). Builders of Modern India: Subhas Chandra Bose. Publications Division. p. 82.