2, September

A touch of India on the Vltava: with an atmospheric summer reception, the Embassy of India in Prague celebrated the second anniversary of the Indian Professionals and Entrepreneurs Forum (IPEF) – and, at the same time, the new free trade agreement between India and the European Union.

On 2 September 2026, the Embassy of the Republic of India invited guests on board the ship “Natal”, moored at Dvořákovo nábřeží in Prague’s Old Town. The host was H.E. Raveesh Kumar, Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic. Some 120 guests from business, politics, diplomacy and the media accepted the invitation, among them Radek Vondráček, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies; Deputy Minister Jan Sechter and David Müller, Head of the EU Affairs and Foreign Trade Section, from the Ministry of Industry and Trade; the incoming Czech Ambassador to India, Marek Libřický; and many members of Prague’s Indian community. With glorious late-summer weather and a view of Prague Castle, it was an evening that left everyone wanting more of India. PragueForum was there for you.

Two Years of IPEF: A Network That Builds Bridges

The Indian Professionals and Entrepreneurs Forum was launched in September 2024. It connects successful Indians and people of Indian origin who live and work in the Czech Republic. An Executive Committee of 20 leading professionals and entrepreneurs from a wide range of sectors sets its course.

Its goal is ambitious: the dynamic Indian community is to become a driving force for an even closer partnership – in trade, investment, innovation, research, defence and direct people-to-people exchange. To this end, the forum regularly organises discussions with Czech decision-makers.

The guest list of the past two years is impressive:

• November 2024: launch with Minister of Industry and Trade Lukáš Vlček
• March 2025: Karel Havlíček, then Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies and now First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry
• June 2025: Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan
• Radek Vondráček, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies
• September 2025: President of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil as guest of honour at the first anniversary

In just two years, IPEF has thus become an established fixture in Prague’s business life – and one of the most important voices of the Indian community in the country.

The Host: Ambassador Raveesh Kumar

Raveesh Kumar has represented India in Prague since June 2024 and is one of his country’s most prominent diplomats. He became widely known as the official spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs from 2017 to 2020 – the youngest in the history of the office. During that time he was the face of Indian foreign policy to the world’s media.

A historian who studied at the renowned University of Delhi, he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1995. Postings took him to Jakarta, Thimphu and London, where as political counsellor he handled relations with the British Parliament. From 2010 to 2013 he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Indonesia, followed by four years as Consul General in Frankfurt am Main – so he knows Central Europe first-hand. From 2020 to 2024 he served as Ambassador to Finland, concurrently accredited to Estonia.

In Prague, Ambassador Kumar focuses with great energy on business, innovation and encounters between people. IPEF is one of his pet projects: it makes the Indian community an active partner in Czech–Indian relations. Anyone who saw him that evening could sense the warmth and commitment with which he fills this role.

The Czech Republic’s New Man in New Delhi: Marek Libřický

Among the guests was Marek Libřický, the incoming Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India. The Foreign Ministry confirmed his appointment in August, and India has already granted him agrément. The reception on the Vltava gave him the opportunity to make contacts with Prague’s Indian community even before leaving for New Delhi.

Born in Hradec Králové in 1970, Libřický studied international trade at the Prague University of Economics and Business and has been in the diplomatic service since 1994. After postings in Manila, Tel Aviv and Madrid, he served from 2009 to 2014 as Ambassador to Ethiopia and, at the same time, as the Czech representative to the African Union Commission. From 2017 to 2022 he was Ambassador to Thailand, also responsible for Laos and Cambodia. He then headed the Asia and Pacific Department at the Foreign Ministry in Prague and, most recently, its Security and Non-European Countries Section. He thus brings many years of experience in Asia to his new post.

His mission in New Delhi comes at a time of momentum: with the Strategic Partnership for Innovation and the concluded EU–India free trade agreement, everything points towards expansion – in trade and investment, in technology and research, and in supporting Czech companies on the Indian market.

India and the Czech Republic: Partners with a Future

The ties between the two countries go back a long way. Indian spices were already reaching Bohemia in the Middle Ages, and in the 19th century scholars of the Czech National Revival discovered the kinship between Czech and Sanskrit. Rabindranath Tagore visited Prague in 1921 and 1926; today a bust and a street commemorate the Nobel laureate. In 1938 Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi came to Czechoslovakia, and Bata was already manufacturing near Calcutta in the 1930s. Diplomatic relations have existed since 1947.

Economically, the development is impressive. Bilateral trade has grown from 86 million US dollars in 1993 to around four billion US dollars. India mainly supplies smartphones, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications equipment; the Czech Republic exports pumps, gearboxes, engines and machinery. More than 15 Indian companies such as Infosys, Glenmark and Tata have invested in the Czech Republic and created over 3,000 jobs; in 2025 Jindal Steel International took over Vítkovice Steel in Ostrava. Conversely, around 37 Czech companies are active in India, led by Škoda Auto and Doosan Škoda Power, many of them in the Czech Industrial Cluster in Bengaluru.

Since Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s visit in January 2024, the two countries have been linked by a Strategic Partnership for Innovation. In April 2026 the Joint Economic Commission met in Prague for the 13th time. The free trade agreement between India and the EU, whose negotiations concluded in January 2026, provides a historic boost – hailed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a free trade zone for two billion people. It opens up enormous opportunities for Czech mechanical engineering firms, automotive suppliers and pharmaceutical companies.

The two countries are also growing closer on a human level. Around 10,000 Indians live in the Czech Republic, some 1,500 study at Czech universities, and about 100,000 Indian tourists visit the country every year. Yoga days, film festivals and “India Corners” at universities bring the diversity of Indian culture to life in the Czech Republic too.

A Late-Summer Evening on the Vltava

Boarding from the riverbank below the Hotel President already set the tone for a special evening. The evening sun bathed the Vltava, Charles Bridge and Prague Castle in warm light – a backdrop that could hardly be more beautiful. After the Ambassador’s words of welcome, in which he praised IPEF’s achievements and the significance of the new free trade agreement, the deck belonged entirely to the guests.

To the sound of lovely music, delicious specialities of Indian cuisine were served, delighting guests with their aromas and variety. Lively conversations sprang up between Indian entrepreneurs, Czech officials, diplomats and media representatives, and more than a few went home with a handful of new business cards. It is precisely these encounters that define IPEF: here, partnership is not just invoked but lived.

PragueForum thanks Ambassador Raveesh Kumar, his team and IPEF for their warm hospitality and a wonderful evening – and warmly congratulates the forum on its second anniversary.