International Relations
President’s Three Nations Visit
- 18 Sep 2019
- 5 min read
The President of India recently concluded his visit to the three nations namely, Iceland, Switzerland, and Slovenia.
India-Iceland
Historical Background
- India and Iceland’s friendship is based on the shared values and mutuality of interests.
- A string of high-level visits between the two nations since 2000, imparted a new dynamism to the bilateral relations.
- Iceland was the first Nordic country that publicly extended support to India's candidature for permanent membership at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
- Iceland was one of the countries that co-sponsored the resolution at the UN to declare June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.
Key Highlights of the Visit
- India and Iceland signed and exchanged three agreements in the fields of,
- Fisheries collaboration,
- Cultural cooperation, and
- Visa waiver for the holders of diplomatic and official passport.
- Culturally, India’s long-pending demand for setting up a Hindi Chair at the University of Iceland was fulfilled.
- The Hindi language will now be taught at the University of Iceland.
- On the economic front, with India’s aim to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, India’s transformative growth and Iceland’s technological know-how can add immense value.
- In the purview of Climate Change, India wants to combine its economic progress with clean technology.
- In this regard, Iceland’s pioneering efforts in green technologies, be it carbon capture, energy-efficient buildings or waste-to-wealth projects can leverage significant benefits to India.
- In the purview of Climate Change, India wants to combine its economic progress with clean technology.
- The future areas of cooperation between India and Iceland lie in the field of pharma, healthcare and biotech space, finance, hospitality and tourism services.
India-Switzerland
Historical Background
- India is one of Switzerland's principal partners in Asia. The two countries signed the Treaty of Friendship in the year 1948.
- Since then, Switzerland and India have signed numerous bilateral agreements that cover a wide range of areas such as trade, education and vocational training, visas, migration, air traffic, investment, finance, taxation, and scientific and technological cooperation.
Key Highlights of the Visit
- The Indian President addressed the Federal Council of Switzerland (which is the highest executive authority of Switzerland) and unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Villeneuve, Switzerland.
- Both the countries agreed to have their first automatic exchange of information on tax matters.
- Switzerland is the largest exporter to India from Europe.
- The bilateral trade volume stands at around US$ 19 billion and India is committed to expand the trading ties further.
- The future opportunities lie in the field of capital, technology, science and skills, inter alia for mutual benefit.
India-Slovenia
Historical Background
- The Republic of Slovenia attained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. And, India recognized the independent state of Slovenia in 1992 and supported its candidature for the membership at the UN.
- Since then both the nations share cordial bilateral relations.
- The balance of trade between the two nations is tilted in favour of India.
Key Highlights of the Visit
- This is the first-ever presidential visit from India to Slovenia.
- India and Slovenia signed and exchanged seven MoUs and Programmes of Cooperation in the fields of Investment, Sports, Culture, River Rejuvenation (Clean Ganga Mission), Science & Technology and Standards.
- India sought for Slovenia's support in its bid to get permanent membership at the UN Security Council and the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
- The future cooperation possibilities between the two countries lie in the fields of high technology (especially clean technology), robotics and artificial intelligence, start-ups and innovation sectors.
