India, Switzerland Sign Five Pacts To Deepen Ties

New Delhi: India and Switzerland signed five pacts on Monday, including agreements on migration and young professional exchanges, following “wide-ranging and substantive” talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Guy Parmelin at Hyderabad House in the capital.

The two countries also agreed to improve market access for Indian exports in Switzerland and facilitate investment. They identified new opportunities for military exchanges and defence production and agreed to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy.

Mr Modi said the mobility pacts “signed today will open up many new opportunities in Switzerland for Indian students, researchers, professionals, and young people”.

Describing people-to-people ties as “the greatest strength of our partnership”, he thanked Mr Parmelin for his support for India-Switzerland relations.

The MoU on Migration and Mobility Partnership (MMP) “aims to develop migration and mobility cooperation under equal treatment principles, and to prevent and combat irregular migration/human exploitation/trafficking in accordance with national laws”.

It also “provides for multiple-entry visas for upto five years, including stays of upto six months on each visit, and renewable one-year student permits”.

The Agreement on the Exchange of Young Professionals (YPS) “aims to govern the exchange of young professionals taking up temporary employment in the other country to enhance their professional and language skills within their field”.

It “incorporates exchange of 300 persons annually per country, which may increase to 500, and a timeline of 30/90 days for verification of nationality/residency status, among other provisions”.

The other pacts covered transport, mobility and infrastructure; scientific research; and innovation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship.

“Today, innovation, infrastructure, and advanced technology are strong pillars of our partnership. And through today’s summit, we are going to give our partnership a new momentum and take it to new heights,” Mr Modi said.

The transport pact covers cooperation in areas such as electric vehicles, ropeways, the circular economy, tunnels and other transport sectors.

“The Varanasi ropeway, Jewar Airport in Noida, and railway and tunnelling projects in mountainous areas are shining examples of our infrastructure cooperation. To further strengthen this cooperation, today we signed an agreement on transport, mobility, and infrastructure,” the Prime Minister said.

“We invite Swiss infrastructure companies to invest in India at a large scale and participate in capacity building, design, and manufacturing,” he added.

MEA secretary (West) Sibi George told reporters at a special briefing that the Swiss President would visit Noida International Airport at Jewar on Tuesday.

On trade and investment, Mr Modi said: “We have taken several important decisions to increase market access for Indian exports in Switzerland and further facilitate investment between the two countries. This will help increase exports of Indian agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and engineering goods to Switzerland. At the same time, we will attract new Swiss investments into key sectors in India, such as biotechnology, life sciences, banking, insurance, food processing, and sustainability. Through these initiatives, we will work together to develop trusted supply chains and reliable solutions for the world.”

Senior MEA officials said the two countries would constitute a special group to address concerns relating to trade and investment.

Mr Modi recalled that the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and the four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries — Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — came into force in October last year.

He described it as “an ambitious blueprint for investment, innovation, jobs, and shared prosperity ... to achieve the targets of $100 billion in investment in India and one million direct jobs over the next 15 years”.

The agreement, signed about two-and-a-half years ago, was India’s first free trade agreement with an economic bloc in Europe.

“I am grateful to the President of Switzerland for visiting India with a large business delegation. On October 7, in his presence, we will host the ‘Prosperity Summit’ with India-EFTA business leaders. This summit will serve as an important platform to turn the promise of our trade and investment partnership into concrete outcomes,” Mr Modi said.

Highlighting science and technology cooperation, he said: “I am very pleased that we will soon launch new joint research projects in priority areas such as health, clean energy, and space. We also welcome the agreement with the University of Zurich to build the capacity of India’s science start-ups.”

The leaders also discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia.

“Both India and Switzerland believe in democratic values, the rule of law, dialogue, and diplomacy. We will continue to work together for global peace and stability. Whether it is Ukraine or West Asia, India has consistently supported every meaningful effort towards peace. We also agree that reforms in global institutions are essential to address the growing global challenges,” Mr Modi said.

Recalling historical ties, he said: “The friendship between India and Switzerland goes back centuries. In the 19th century, Swami Vivekananda saw a glimpse of the Himalayas in the Swiss Alps. Mahatma Gandhi also spent time in Switzerland and interacted with its people. The memories of these historic visits continue to resonate in our friendship even today.”

“Given the growing popularity of Yoga and Ayurveda in Switzerland, we also had a meaningful discussion today on deepening cooperation in these areas,” he added.

On artificial intelligence, Mr Modi said: “In February this year, India hosted the world’s largest AI Summit. Next year, Switzerland will take this journey forward through the ‘Geneva AI Summit.’ I extend my best wishes to Switzerland for the success of the Geneva AI Summit. I am confident that together, we will continue to work towards making AI responsible, inclusive, and human-centric.”

Earlier, Mr Parmelin reportedly said the relationship was “built on shared democratic values, as well as on trust and mutual respect”. He described his visit as a “stepping stone towards further growth, deepening and strengthening of our close, broad and long-standing partnership”.