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Context: Swedish Prime Minister condemns unrest over Far-Right Anti-Islamic rally. Anti-Muslim and anti-immigration rallies organized by Danish far-right politician

India Sweden Relations

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.

Political engagement

• Diplomatic relations were established in 1948 and steadily strengthened over the decades.
• The partnership has witnessed a sharp upswing in the last few years with seven visits/ interactions at Head of State/Head of Government level in six years. Even during 2020, despite Covid19 constraints, there were eight substantive Ministerial interactions, most in virtual format.
• 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.
• Innovation, Technology, Investment and R&D collaborations provide the bedrock of this modern relationship.
• The two sides adopted a wide-ranging Joint Action Plan and signed a Joint Innovation Partnership.
• Healthcare and Life Sciences has remained an important area of focus over the last decade (Sweden assisted Indian immunization programmes during 1980s).
• In Feb 2020, Sweden India Transport Innovation and Safety Partnership (SITIS) was signed.

Investment, technology and trade linkages

• India Sweden Trade and investment have grown rapidly in recent years. Trade in goods and services has increased from USD 3 billion (2016) to USD 4.5 billion (2019).
• 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 250 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 companies are present in India in sectors including IT (Ericsson, Spotify, Truecaller), automobiles (Volvo, Scania), earth moving & mining (Alfa Laval, Scania) and defence (SAAB).
• Various mechanisms, including the India Sweden Business Round Table (ISBLRT), Sweden India Business Council (SIBC), remained actively engaged in promoting business linkages.
• Around 8,500 business visas were issued to Swedish nationals during 2019.

Research & innovation collaboration

• Swedish Research Council and FORTE (under Ministry of Health) co-fund projects relating to research and industrial applications.
• The areas of cooperation includes : 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.

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 number of Joint Working Groups (JWG) established under many of these MoUs. There exist agreements on avoidance of Double Taxation Bilateral Investment Protection and Air Services.

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.
• 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.
• 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).
• In 2013 during the Swedish Presidency, India joined the Arctic Council as an Observer.

Cultural and academic ties

• In 1913 Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize (for Literature).
• Indian classical arts, especially music and dance, are widely appreciated in Sweden.
• Yoga (and also Ayurveda) are popular among the Swedes.
• Around 20,000 Swedish tourists are estimated to have visited India in 2019.

Indian diaspora

• The Indian Diaspora in Sweden is estimated to be over 50,000 that includes around 35,000 Indian nationals. Most of them are professionals and around 10,000 are estimated to be working in IT sector. 
• There are an estimated 1,500 Indian students in Sweden. So far, around 14,000 Swedish nationals have been issued OCI cards.
• There are a number of Indian Cultural Associations in Sweden based in Stockholm, Gothenberg, Uppsala, Lund, and Umeå, among others.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/swedish-prime-minister-magdalena-andersson-condemns-unrest-over-far-right-anti-islamic-rally-2899287