India-North Macedonia Relations

For over two thousand years, the traffic between India and Macedon ran one direction: Alexander’s army, marching east. In July 2026, an Indian President finally travelled the other way. It was the first such visit, ever.

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International Relations · IntlRel0069

$133 million

India-North Macedonia bilateral trade, 2025

Both sides have agreed to double this figure

9 Feb 1995

Diplomatic relations established

21 Jul 2026

First-ever Indian Presidential visit

2×

ITEC training slots, being doubled

7 Oct 2008

NM Embassy opens in New Delhi

Bilateral trade growth$37.12m (2019-20) → $133m (2025)

Two millennia, one first

Alexander’s army marched from Macedon to India over two thousand years ago. It took until July 2026 for an Indian President to make the trip the other way, for the first time ever.

📑 Contents

1Must Know
2Good to Know
3Test Yourself
4Great to Know
5Current Affairs

Must Know

India and North Macedonia established diplomatic relations on 9 February 1995.
In July 2026, President Droupadi Murmu became the first Indian President to visit North Macedonia. It was the second leg of a State Visit that also covered Moldova and Romania.
She held bilateral talks with North Macedonia’s President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, in Skopje on 21 July 2026.
India announced it would double its ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) training slots for North Macedonia. This includes new courses in Artificial Intelligence.
Both sides agreed to work towards doubling bilateral trade, which stood at about $133 million in 2025.

Good to Know

India was one of 40 co-sponsors of the 1993 UN General Assembly resolution. It admitted North Macedonia, then under the name FYROM, to the United Nations.
North Macedonia’s Embassy in New Delhi opened on 7 October 2008. It also maintains Honorary Consuls in Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore.
Priority cooperation sectors named during the visit include IT/ITES, agriculture, food processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, bio-tech, tourism, hospitality, and filmmaking.
India invited North Macedonia to join three of its own global initiatives. These are the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
President Murmu also invited North Macedonia to take part in WAVES. That’s the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit, to be hosted in India the following year.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

Addressing North Macedonia’s Assembly, President Murmu said the two nations’ relationship “was set in motion more than two millennia ago.” She was pointing to the ancient expeditions that once linked Macedon and India. See AncHist0055 — Alexander’s Invasion of India and AncHist0076 — The Indo-Greek Kingdom: Bactria, Demetrius and Menander.
Bilateral trade has already been climbing before the 2026 pledge to double it. It moved from just $37.12 million in 2019-20 to about $133 million in 2025, more than a threefold rise in five years.

Current Affairs

22 July 2026: President Murmu and President Siljanovska-Davkova jointly unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi, at the Museum of the City of Skopje.
- Murmu called the bust “a lasting symbol of friendship” between India and North Macedonia.
- She said Gandhi’s message of truth and nonviolence “belongs to all humanity,” not just India.
- Murmu also visited Skopje’s Mother Teresa Memorial, marking the birthplace of the Nobel laureate, born there in 1910.
(Source: PIB)
21 July 2026: President Murmu addressed the India-North Macedonia Business Forum in Skopje. She called the two countries’ economic relationship “a frontier waiting to be fully conquered.” She named four priority investment areas: digital innovation and AI, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, agro-processing, and green energy. (Source: PIB)
21 July 2026: She addressed the Assembly of North Macedonia, and called for deeper parliamentary diplomacy between the two democracies. She also invoked India’s “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” philosophy: the world is one family. (Source: PIB)
20-21 July 2026: President Murmu arrived in Skopje on 20 July. It was the second leg of a State Visit also covering Moldova and Romania, and the first-ever visit by an Indian President to North Macedonia. She held bilateral talks with President Siljanovska-Davkova. India also announced it would double ITEC training slots for North Macedonia. (Source: PIB)