Indian President Droupadi Murmu will pay a state visit to Serbia from 7-9 June in what is the first-ever trip by a head of state from either side, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
It said that the visit reflects New Delhi’s commitment to “further strengthen bilateral trade and economic, cultural and people-to-people ties” with Belgrade.
The visit comes against the backdrop of clashes between the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops and locals in four northern Kosovo municipalities which have a predominantly Serb population.
Tensions in Kosovo
Tensions in Kosovo have been on the rise since local elections in April, which were boycotted by the Serbs, resulted in the election of Albanian candidates.
Clashes erupted at the townhall of Zvecan, of the predominantly Serb municipalities, on Monday as NATO troops provided security cover to one of the Albanian mayors.
Serbian President Alexander Vucic has said that 52 ethnic Serb protestors have sustained injuries. NATO has said that at least 30 of its troops were injured in the clashes.
Last week, Vucic ordered the deployment of Serbian forces at several “necessary” locations after Kosovo Police allowed the newly-elected mayors to enter their offices despite opposition from local populations.
Kosovo, which has a 90 percent Albanian population, unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in 2008.
Serbia is the chief successor state of erstwhile Yugosalavia, with which India enjoyed close ties. Both the countries were the co-founders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which advocated a neutral stance during the Cold War for the developing and newly decolonized nations.