FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI India, Slovakia boost strategic cooperation STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Bratislava /New Delhi, 15 June P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced the elevation of India-Slovakia relations to a comprehensive partnership, describing his visit to Bratislava as a historic milestone and the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Slovakia. Addressing a joint press conference with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Modi said the decision reflected the growing trust, shared priorities and expanding cooperation between the two countries across strategic, economic, technological and cultural sectors. “This visit of mine is the first-ever visit to Slovakia by any Indian Prime Minister,” Modi said. “I am pleased that on this historic occasion, we have decided to elevate our relationship to the level of a Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico during his ceremonial welcome in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Monday, 15 June 2026. AGENCIES Comprehensive Partnership. This is a symbol of our shared trust, shared priorities, and shared future.” The announcement marked a significant step forward in bilateral ties as India seeks to deepen engagement with Central and Eastern European nations amid evolving geopolitical and economic dynamics. The two leaders held wide-ranging discussions on trade, investment, innovation, defense cooperation, education and people-to-people exchanges, culminating in agreements aimed at expanding collaboration in several key sectors. A major focus of the discussions was economic cooperation and the ongoing efforts to conclude the long-awaited India-European union Free Trade Agreement. Modi expressed gratitude to Slovakia for its support in advancing negotiations and underlined the importance of early implementation once the pact is finalised. “I would like to express my special gratitude to the Prime Minister for Slovakia’s support in finalising the India-EU Free Trade Agreement,” he said. “We will work towards its implementation at the earliest so that industries, startups, and traders in both countries can derive maximum benefit from it.” India and the European union resumed negotiations on the trade agreement after years of stagnation, with both sides aiming to boost market access, investment flows and economic integration. Slovakia, as a member of the EU, has been viewed as an important partner in supporting closer economic engagement between India and Europe. | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW | MUMBAI | Tuesday, 16 June 2026 CM Suvendu proposes delimitation of KMC wards STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 15 June With months left for the elections to the civic body, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari today proposed a delimitation exercise in the wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). Speaking during an event at the KMC headquarters here, the chief minister explained the rationale for the exercise, saying while some wards have over 40,000 to 50,000 voters, the electorate count in some other wards is only around 8,000 to 10,000. Also some wards have only 15 to 18 booths while others have 50. “This is the reason, delimitation is needed in Kolkata Municipal Corporation,” said Mr Adhikari. The chief minister was speaking at the launch of Swachha App and the inaugural ceremony of the Swachhata Se Swagat - an intensive cleanliness drive in the city to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi. US, Iran strike tentative peace deal as Israel refuses land pullback AGENCIES Dubai, 15 June The PM is scheduled to address a meeting on 20 June on the occasion of Paschimbanga Divas and participate in a mega event of International Yoga Day on 21 June. Elaborating on the process of delimitation, the chief minister said the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department would initiate the process. “The state election commission would start the delimitation with the help and consultation of the officials of the Land Department. There would also be people’s participation, claim and objection and an all party meeting. I think that delimitation should be done.” • Details on Page 3 The United States and Iran reached an initial agreement Monday that would extend their shaky ceasefire and lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but significant challenges remain to ending the war, including whether Israel will continue its offensive in Lebanon. Details of the deal were not immediately released, but it appeared that it would not be implemented until it is signed. Even if the strait - a crucial waterway for the world’s oil and natural gas - fully opens then, it will likely take months for the global energy crisis sparked by its closure to ease. Israel’s defense minister said Monday that the country wouldn’t withdraw from land seized in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israel joined the U.S in launching the war on 28 February, but it is not party to the deal. A spokesman in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel will continue to defend itself against any threat to its security. That alone could scupper the deal, since Iran has insisted any agreement to end the war include an end to the fighting in Lebanon. But the agreement also faces other major challenges as it gives just 60 days to decide what to do about Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and its nuclear program - which the U.S and Israel worry could be used to build an atomic weapon, despite Tehran’s insistence that it is peaceful. Trump hailed the agreement on social media, saying he had authorized the Strait of Hormuz to open and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports to end. He later said the strait wouldn’t open until Friday. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the agreement on state television but said Iran would not start implementing it until it was signed.