President Guy Parmelin started a 5-7 October visit at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation, with trade, investment and the India-EFTA pact on the agenda.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin began a three-day state visit to India on Monday, with talks planned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on trade, investment, technology and mobility.
Open magazine reported the visit runs from 5 to 7 October at Modi's invitation. It is Parmelin's first state visit to India and his second trip this year, after the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is also due to call on him. A business delegation is travelling with the president.
In a News18 interview on the first day, Parmelin said the visit would strengthen cooperation and unlock opportunities for both countries. He said the exchange of financial-account information between Switzerland and India has been smooth since the first exchange in 2019. On the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, which completed a year in force, he said Swiss investments have been made or planned in transport, logistics, financial services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotech, technology and electronics.
The EFTA side has committed 100 billion dollars in investment and one million jobs over 15 years, the interview noted. Parmelin is due to take part in the second India-EFTA Prosperity Summit on 7 October.
Monday's programme is the ceremonial and political start of the visit. Specific new agreements were not announced in the reports used here.
People Sentiments Positive
- Parmelin said returning to India so soon was a testament to the state of bilateral relations