SWEDEN : INTRODUCTION

India and Sweden have had longstanding close relations based on common values; strong business, investment and R&D linkages; and similar approaches to meet global challenges of peace & security and development.

Sweden (the largest Nordic country in terms of landmass, population and GDP) is a member of the EU and Schengen visa regime but not the Eurozone. Sweden has applied for NATO membership and since July 2022, Sweden has been an official NATO Invitee. Sweden held the Presidency of the EU Council during the first half of 2023 . Sweden will chair the Nordic Baltic (NB8) during 2024. 

Sweden has a population of around 10 million and a GDP of around USD 630 billion and total trade of around USD 360 billion (exports USD 185 billion). 

Sweden is an external oriented economy with focus on services and industry sectors, especially on manufacturing, IT, life sciences, circular economy, clean technologies. Sweden consistently ranks among the top two economies in the world in terms of Global Innovation Index.

Sweden has a landmass of around 0.5 million sq km, a coastline of more than 3,000 km on the Baltic Sea and is separated from Norway by the Scandinavian mountain chain along a 1,600 km border. Sweden has a land border of over 500 km with Finland. To the south, Sweden is connected with Denmark via a bridge and a tunnel. One third of Swedish territory (more than 150,000 sq km) is considered as its Arctic area where a population of 0.5 million (mainly Saami) resides.  Sweden is one of the 8 members of the Arctic Council.

INDIA-SWEDEN POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

2023 marks 75 years of diplomatic relations, which were established in 1948 and have steadily strengthened over the decades. 

Regular political engagement, intensifying business ties, cooperation on global challenges and multilateral issues define the strong India Sweden partnership. Innovation, Technology, Investment and R&D collaborations provide the bedrock of this modern relationship. 

The partnership has witnessed a sharp upswing in the high-level engagement since 2014, with 10 visits/ interactions at Head of State/Head of Government level during this period. This includes eight interactions at Prime Ministerial level (September 2015 New York; February 2016 Make in India Mumbai; April 2018 Stockholm; April 2020 telephone conversation; March 2021 Virtual Summit; May 2021 India EU Summit; and Nov 2021 on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow, May 2022 Copenhagen 2nd India-Nordic summit, the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to Sweden in May-June 2015 and the visit of His Majesty the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf to India in December 2019.

During 2023 (Jan-October) there have been four Ministerial visits from Sweden (Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure and Finance). EAM visited Sweden in May 2023. There have been around 13 ministerial interactions during November 2022-October 2023. 

During 2022 there were three ministerial interactions - Foreign Ministers (Munich in Feb 2022); Environment Ministers (Nairobi in March 2022); Aviation & Infrastructure Ministers (Virtual in March 2022). Despite Covid19 constraints, there were eight substantive Ministerial interactions, most in virtual format in 2020 and eight Ministerial interactions in 2021.

Sweden hosted the First ever India Nordic Summit in Stockholm in April 2018 where Prime Minister Modi and his counterparts from all five Nordic countries participated. Prime Minister of Sweden and India also interacted during the India EU Leaders’ Meeting in virtual format on 8 May 2021 and in Glasgow on 1 Nov 2021. Sweden also participated in the First India Nordic Baltic Conclave co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar in November 2020.

During the 2018 visit of Prime Minister Modi to Sweden, the two sides adopted a wide-ranging Joint Action Plan and signed a Joint Innovation Partnership. The first high level Dialogue on Innovation Policy was co-chaired by Prime Minister Modi and the King of Sweden in December 2019. PM Löfven was the Chief Guest at 2016 Make in India event and Sweden hosted a major Make in India event in 2017.

INVESTMENT, TECHNOLOGY AND TRADE LINKAGES

Sweden’s natural resources include iron, timber, fisheries and hydro power. Sweden has, therefore, focussed on manufacturing, IT, life sciences, circular economy, and clean technologies. Sweden has created an exemplary innovation ecosystem where it consistently ranks among the top two economies in the world.

Sweden’s major industries include automotive, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, industrial machines, precision equipment, chemical goods, home appliances, mining, forestry, iron & steel. Many large businesses belong to the Wallenberg group. These include : Ericsson (telecom), SEB (banking), SAAB (defence), Electrolux (home appliances), SKF (bearings), Atlas Copco (industrial equipment & mining), Astra Zeneca (pharma), Grand Hotel, among others. Other leading Swedish companies and brands include : IKEA (furniture retail), H&M (clothing & interiors), Tetra Pack (packaging), Alfa Laval (heavy industry), BAE (defence), Volvo (automotive), Sandvik (engineering), Scania (automotive), Spotify and Truecaller (IT). 

Several innovations including safety match, seat belt, zipper, ultrasound, pacemaker, tetra pack, telephone handset, skype have Swedish roots.

India Sweden Trade and investment have grown rapidly in recent years. Trade in goods has increased from USD 3 billion (2016) to USD 5.5 billion (2022). India is the 3rd largest trading partner for Sweden in Asia. The number of Swedish companies with business presence in India has increased from around 150 to around 260 in the last five years or so. The number of Indian companies with business presence has increased from around 50 to 75 over a similar period.

Swedish business presence in India dates back more than a hundred years (Ericsson, Swedish Match Co., SKF, ABB) and has concentrated especially in Pune since 1960s. The next wave of investment followed over the last two decades, which has further picked up in the past five years.

Swedish companies are among the leading global players in several fields and are present in India in sectors including IT (Ericsson, Spotify, Truecaller), automobiles (Volvo, Scania), earth moving & mining (Alfa Laval, Scania), process plant equipment (Sandvik), electrical engg. & AI (ABB, SKF), pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca), packaging (Tetra Pack) sustainable urban solutions (waste management, water, IT solutions), retail (IKEA, H&M), and defence (SAAB). Several Swedish SMEs are also active in India esp. in IT, renewable energy and manufacturing.  Swedish companies have a long record of manufacturing in India and rank among the top in Making in India.

There is a growing Indian business presence in Sweden, especially in IT sector. Some Indian companies have also made acquisitions in recent years in Sweden (Bharat Forge, Wipro, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Aditya Birla, Tata group, Crompton Greaves, Altruist Technologies, HCL Technology, Kalpataru among others). Indian biotech and pharma companies including Dr. Reddys, Biocon, Kemwell and Cadila Pharma have formed collaborative relations in Sweden. India was among the select countries whose business delegations were invited to the Join Sweden Summit in June 2022. 

Various mechanisms, established in recent years, including the India Sweden Business Round Table (ISBLRT), Sweden India Business Council (SIBC), remained actively engaged in promoting business linkages, as did the entities such as Invest India, Business Sweden, CII, DPIIT, CII and India Sweden Healthcare Innovations Centre.

Embassy of India supports the organisation of an annual India Sweden Innovation Day. The 10th edition of India Sweden Innovation Day was jointly inaugurated by Minister for Infrastructure of Sweden and MoS(IC) for S&T from India on 9 October 2023. Embassy also supports other initiatives such as Engaging India at Almedalen. Sweden hosts a Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week in India focusing on promoting business and academic linkages, among other initiatives. 

The 2023 India Business Climate Survey released by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in India and Business Sweden have shown unprecedented positive sentiment among Swedish businesses present in India. 86% of them find the Indian business climate favourable/very favourable. India is also among the top three investment destinations according to the 2023 Global Business Climate Survey released by Business Sweden. 

There has been a regular exchange of official and business delegations over the last several years. In the last five years around 50 Indian delegations at Ministerial/Senior Official level have visited Sweden. Investment promotion Ministerial delegations from states of UP and Tamil Nadu have visited Stockholm in recent months. CII-led Indian business delegations from steel, cement and pulp and paper industries have also visited Sweden. Indian business associations also participate in sector specific Trade exhibitions in Sweden. 

RESEARCH & INNOVATION COLLABORATION

Departments of S&T (DST) & Biotechnology (DBT), alongwith GITA (DST-CII collaboration) and ICMR from India are partnering Swedish agencies including Vinnova (Swedish Govt Innovation and R&D agency), Swedish Energy Agency, Swedish Research Council and FORTE (under Ministry of Health) to co-fund projects relating to research and industrial applications.

The range of areas of cooperation include : Smart Cities & CleanTech, Nano Sciences, Computer Sciences, AI, Smart Grids, Energy Research (storage, e-mobility, new fuels), water, waste to wealth, circular economy, embedded systems, new technologies. Other areas include : Digitisation and Internet of Things (IOT), Health & Life Sciences, Biomedical Devices, Bio-Economy, Startups, Test Beds, Bioclusters, Digital Healthcare, Ageing, New materials, Space & Aeronautics etc. 

There is ongoing cooperation in space sector. An MoU was signed in 1986. A Swedish scientific payload SARA (made by Institute for Space Research IRF in Kiruna) travelled on Chandrayaan-I moon mission of India in 2008. There is ongoing cooperation between ISRO and Swedish Space Corporation SSC on TTC (telemetry, tracking & command) services. 

There has also been cooperation in polar research.  

BILATERAL INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION MECHANISMS

A range of MoUs and bilateral Agreements exist covering sectors including Science & Technology; Healthcare, Sustainable Urban Development, Renewable Energy, Railways; Space, Polar Science, and Defence. There are a number of Joint Working Groups (JWG) established under many of these MoUs. There also exist agreements on avoidance of Double Taxation, Bilateral Investment Protection and Air Services. 

The 20th session of Indo-Swedish Joint Commission for Economic, Industrial and Scientific Cooporation (JCIEC) was held in Delhi in December 2022. It was co-chaired by Commerce & Industry Minister and Minister for Foreign Trade. The two Ministers also participated at the India Sweden Economic Partnership Conference. 

The 9th meeting of JWG on Defence Cooperation was held in Hyderabad in August 2023. Two JWGs were held during 2022 – 2nd JWG on Digital technologies (November 2022 in Delhi) and 12th JWG on Health (December in Delhi). The 6th Meeting of India Sweden Joint Committee on Science & Technology was held in Sweden in May 2019. 

Two MoUs were signed during 2022 – on Aviation and Financial Regulation. First between AAI (Airports Authority of India) and LFV Air Navigation Services. The other between IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority) of India and FI (Finansinspektionen) of Sweden. 

During the visit of State Secretary for Foreign Trade to India in March 2023, two MoUs were signed – between SERB (Science & Engg Research Board) with STINT (Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research & Higher Education), and MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) and SIBC (Sweden India Business Council).   

So far six rounds of Foreign Office Consultations have also been held. In April 2023 Secretary(West) met State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and State Secretary for Foreign Trade during his visit to Stockholm. Earlier he participated in the EU27-India Political Directors’ meeting in Malmö. Foreign Office consultations on multilateral issues were held in January 2021 in virtual format.

The King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf and Ministers of Foreign Trade and Infrastructure had visited the India Pavilion at Dubai Expo in 2022. 

MULTILATERAL ENGAGEMENT

India and Sweden jointly launched the Leadership Group on Industry Transition (LeadIT) in association with World Economic Forum (WEF) at the UN Climate Action Summit convened by the UN Secretary General in September 2019 in New York. The Stockholm Environment Institute is the Secretariat for the LeadIT whose membership has since expanded to 37 members including 18 countries (including France, Germany, Japan, RoK, UK and USA) and 19 big companies (including Dalmia Cement, Mahindra Group, Tata group and Spice Jet).

At the first ever UN Conference on Human Environment that was hosted by Sweden in Stockholm in 1972, the Indian delegation was led by PM Indira Gandhi. Sweden co-hosted the Stockholm+50 with Kenya in June 2022. The Indian delegation was led by Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change. 

In the 1980s India and Sweden worked together on nuclear disarmament issues within the framework of the ‘Six Nation Peace Summit’ (that also included Argentina, Greece, Mexico and Tanzania).

At the UN General Assembly, India and Sweden present an annual Joint Statement on Humanitarian Affairs.

CULTURAL AND ACADEMIC TIES

In 1913 Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize (for Literature). Over the last century, a number of other distinguished Indian nationals/ persons of Indian origin have won the Nobel Prize in different categories.

King Gustav V (great grandfather of HM King Carl XVI Gustaf) received Rabindranath Tagore during the latter’s visit to Sweden in 1926. Prince Wilhelm visited Kolkata in 1912 and met the Tagore family. In 1973 a special stamp was issued in Sweden on Rabindranath Tagore. In 2014 a bust of Rabindranath Tagore was installed in the university town of Uppsala to mark the 100 years of the award of Nobel Prize to him.

In mid-1950s, a small bronze statuette of Buddha seated on lotus was discovered from an excavation conducted in an old Viking settlement on the island of Helgö on Lake Mällaren, west of Stockholm. The statuette, popularly known as ‘Helgö Buddha’ is dated to around 1,400 years ago and is thought to be from Kashmir. In 2015 the Swedish Post issued a special stamp on Helgö Buddha.

Indian classical arts, especially music and dance, are widely appreciated in Sweden. Yoga (and also Ayurveda) are popular among the Swedes. International Day of Yoga is celebrated across several Swedish cities. A day long Ayurveda Seminar was organised in Feb 2022 where around 70 Ayurveda practitioners from Sweden joined. 

There are ongoing research linkages between academic institutions and universities between India and Sweden. Some of these include KTH (Royal Institute of Technology), Karlstad University, Uppsala University, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Linkoping University on the Swedish side and IIT Chennai, IIT Guwahati, Vellore Institute of Technology, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar and BHU Varanasi.

Academic Chairs on Indian studies have been established in the past at prominent Swedish Universities – Lund, Gothenburg and Uppsala. Indology studies at Uppsala University date back nearly 200 years. 

A popular annual open-air day-long cultural event ‘Namaste Stockholm’ is supported by the Embassy of India. It is estimated that the event attracts around 15-20,000 visitors. The 2023 edition was inaugurated by Hon. Governor of Stockholm Ms. Anna Kinberg Batra. It featured nearly 40 performances by Indian and Swedish artistes. 

Indian Women Football team visited Sweden in Oct 2021 to play friendly matches with Swedish teams. Indian team has a Swedish coach.

INDIAN DIASPORA

The Indian Diaspora in Sweden is estimated to be over 60,000 that includes around 42,000 Indian nationals.  Most of them are professionals, predominantly in IT sector.  There is a large number of Indian researchers and students in Sweden. There are an estimated 1,500 Indian students in Sweden. So far, around 18,000 Swedish nationals have been issued OCI cards. 

There are a number of Indian Cultural Associations in Sweden based in Stockholm, Gothenberg, Uppsala, Lund, Malmö, Umeå, Kiruna, Helsingborg, Västerås among others. A wide range of Indian festivals are celebrated across Sweden. 

Two Swedish nationals of Indian origin have received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman so far – Late Shri Bicky Chakraborty (2008) and Dr. Sanjeevi Karani (2017). 

HIGH LEVEL VISITS

From the Indian side, there have been six visits at the HoS/HoG level : PM Nehru (1957), PM Indira Gandhi (1972), PM Rajiv Gandhi (1986 & 1988), President Pranab Mukherjee (2015), PM Narendra Modi (2018).

From the Swedish side, there have been eight visits at the HoS/HoG level : PM Tage Erlander (1960), PM Olof Palme (1985), HM King Carl XVI Gustaf (1993), PM Goran Persson (2003), HM King Carl XVI Gustaf (2004), PM Frederik Reinfeldt (2009), PM Stefan Löfven (Make in India Mumbai 2016), HM King Carl XVI Gustaf (2019).

Former PM Goran Persson visited India (2015) to address Vivekananda International Foundation; and former PM Carl Bildt (2020 and 2021) participated at the Raisina Dialogue.

RECENT MINISTERIAL INTERACTIONS

2023

EAM visited Sweden in May 2023 for the EU Indo Pacific Ministerial meeting in Stockholm. During the visit he held bilateral discussions with Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and Defence Minister Pål Jonson, Riksdag Speaker and National Security Adviser. He also met Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. EAM and Foreign Minister jointly inaugurated the 21st session of India Trilateral Forum. EAM also had a meeting with senior business leaders. He also addressed the Indian diaspora at a special event. 

EAM and FM Billström had earlier met in Delhi on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue in Feb 2023. 

Minister of Infrastructure & Housing Andr eas Carlson visited India in April 2023. During the visit he met Ministers of Housing, Environment, Forests & Climate Change and MoS Civil Aviation. 

Minister of Finance of Sweden Elisabeth Svantesson participated at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting in Bengaluru in Feb 2023. She represented the EU Council of Ministers as the EU Presidency. She met Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman. 

2022

EAM held bilateral discussions with Foreign Minister Ann Linde in Feb 2022 in Munich on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference. They also met a few days later in Paris where France, as EU President, hosted a Ministerial event on EU-Indo Pacific. 

Minister for Foreign Trade Johan Forsell visited India in December 2022 when he and CIM Shri Piyush Goyal co-chaired the 20th session of Joint Commission for Economic, Industrial and Scientific Cooperation in Delhi. He also met Minister for Railways, Communications & Electronics & IT Shri Ashwini Vaishnav. 

Environment Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav interacted with counterpart Minister Annika Strandhäll in Nairobi in March 2022 on the sidelines of UNEA. The two ministers co-chaired the LeadIT Ministerial meeting in Stockholm in June 2022 on the sidelines of Stockholm+50 Conference. Minister Yadav and Swedish Minister for Environment Romina Pourmokhtari co-chaired the LeadIT Ministerial in Nov 2022 on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm-al-Sheikh. 

Deputy PM & Minister for Energy, Business & Industry Ebba Busch and Minister of State (IC) for S&T, Atomic Energy and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh jointly inaugurated the 9th edition of India Sweden Innovation Day in October 2022. 

Civil Aviation Minister Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia interacted virtually with counterpart Minister Tomas Eneroth in March 2022.

Minister of Health Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya met Minister Hallgren in May 2022 in Geneva on the sidelines of World Health assembly. 

2021

Foreign Minister Ann Linde addressed the Raisina Dialogue in April 2021.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Swedish Minister for Defence Mr. Peter Hultqvist spoke at the India-Sweden Defence Industry Cooperation Webinar on the theme of ‘Capitalising on Opportunities for Growth and Security’ on 8 June, 2021.  On this occasion an MOU was signed between Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) and Swedish Security and Defence Industry (SOFF) to promote bilateral defence industrial relations.

Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences (IC), Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 8th India-Sweden Innovation Day along with Swedish Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation Mr. Ibrahim Baylan on 26 October 2021 on the theme ‘India Sweden Innovation Day was India Sweden’s green transition.’

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupendra Yadav and Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Environment, Mr. Per Bolund co-hosted the Lead IT Summit during the COP 26 on 9 Nov 2021. The two Ministers also held bilateral interactions on the sidelines of COP 26 on 9 Nov, 2021.

EAM interacted with FM Ann Linde in Slovenia at Gymnich Lunch in Sep 2021.

CIM Shri Piyush Goyal and his counterpart Minister Anna Hallberg had a virtual interaction in April 2021. The two Ministers addressed the CEO Forum in December 2020 in virtual format and also held discussions in May 2020.

2020

Minister of Health Lena Hallengren addressed the Aarogya Manthan 2.0 in Aug 2020 in a virtual format at the invitation of our Minister. Minister Dr. Harshvardhan addressed the ‘Health Talks’ organised by the Swedish side during the Nobel Memorial Week in December 2020 in a virtual format. He announced the setting up of a Centre of Excellence in the field of Oncology at AIIMS Jodhpur. 2019 was declared as India Sweden Year of Health (completion of a decade of Health MoU). Minister of Health Lena Hallengren visited India in Feb 2019. An India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre was launched in Dec 2019. This is a collaboration between AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur, MoHFW, ICMR and Swedish Trade Commissioner’s Office and AstraZeneca.

Minister Gadkari visited Sweden in Feb 2020. A Sweden India Transport Innovation and Safety Partnership (SITIS) was signed during the visit. He met Minister Baylan (Business & Innovation), Minister Eneroth (Transport & Infrastructure) and Minister Anna Hallberg (Foreign Trade).  Minister Gadkari and Minister Baylan inaugurated the 7th India Sweden Innovation Day in November 2020 in a virtual format. There was a thematic session on SITIS.

Minister Javadekar and Dy PM & Minister of Environment Lövin addressed a ‘Strategic Forum’ organised by the Swedish Institute for International Affairs (UI) in a virtual format in November 2020 on the theme of Climate Action. A ministerial LeadIT (Leadership Group on Industry Transition) meeting was held in December 2020 to mark the fifth anniversary of Paris Agreement.  A Joint Ministerial Statement was issued. An Industry Transition Day was held in July 2020. Earlier a high-level meeting of convening members was held on the sidelines of COP25 in December 2019 in Madrid. The operational Work Plan until 2023 has been finalised.

Defence Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman had visited Sweden in February 2019. Swedish Chief of Air Staff participated in the first ever Air Chiefs Conclave held during the Aero India Show 2021 in Feb 2021 in virtual format.

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October 2023