Bratislava, June 15 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Slovak PM Robert Fico agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection and connectivity, identifying these areas as key pillars of the growing bilateral partnership, according to the Joint Statement issued on Monday.

The two leaders underscored the importance of strengthening defence and security cooperation and agreed to encourage regular consultations and exchanges between their respective defence authorities. They agreed to explore opportunities for enhanced collaboration in defence technologies, capacity building, research and development, and defence industrial cooperation.

In this context, the leaders welcomed the signing of the L...