The four Visegrad Group (V4) countries have backed India’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, with Slovakia saying the country’s growing global role and its position in the Indo-Pacific warranted a place at the top table of the world body.“We all agree as V4 countries that India, as a part of the Global South, an upcoming superpower in the Indo-Pacific region, must be at the table as a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár said after the first V4+India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New York.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the inaugural meeting, held on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly session on Monday, along with Blanár and his counterparts from Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.The meeting, held under Slovakia’s V4 presidency, marked the first foreign ministers-level engagement between India and the grouping comprising Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.The ministers discussed ways to expand India-V4 cooperation in trade and investment, technology and innovation, resilient supply chains, defence and security, connectivity, education, mobility and people-to-people exchanges.They also identified scope for greater engagement among businesses, academic and research institutions and other stakeholders from India and the four Central European countries.The ministers exchanged views on global and regional developments, peace and security and cooperation in multilateral forums, including the need for reform of the multilateral system and greater attention to challenges confronting the Global South.The inaugural meeting provides an additional platform for India to engage collectively with the four Visegrad countries, building on its existing bilateral relations with each of them.The V4+India format is also expected to add momentum to cooperation in emerging areas such as technology, innovation and resilient supply chains, besides defence, connectivity and economic ties.