The Indian Prime Minister recently held a virtual summit with Sweden’s PM to tackle a range of mutual interests including bilateral concerns and various regional and multilateral topics. This discussion forum provided an opportunity to consider the global situation, particularly regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, climate action, gender equality, counter-terrorism, sustainable development, disaster resilient infrastructure, and more.
Summit Highlights: Economic Cooperation
The summit welcomed a second joint industrial R&D call under the India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme on Smart and Sustainable Cities, Transport Systems, Clean Technologies and Digitalization and Internet of Things. Both countries confirmed their ambition to scale up bilateral research and innovation on Circular Economy including Health and Life Sciences and Waste to Wealth for 2021.
Cooperation in Other Sectors
The creation of a Sweden-India Health Hub at AIIMS-Jodhpur was warmly received. Advances in hydrogen research and their possible application in key industries, especially Energy, were noteworthy.
Cooperation at Multilateral Forums
The summit saw Sweden join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and India being congratulated for securing its eighth term as an elected member of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022. Furthermore, it highlighted the urgency of reforming the UN Security Council to uphold the credibility of multilateralism and address numerous pressing common challenges facing humanity.
Climate Action
The USA rejoining the Paris agreement was welcomed as an impetus to global climate action before COP 26 in Glasgow, UK. Both nations agreed to continue their outreach to broaden the Leadership Group on Industry Transition (LeadIT) membership and intensify their collaboration within the Arctic Council framework to address global environmental protection and combat climate change.
Security
The 2019 General Security Agreement was commended for facilitating a comprehensive partnership in all defense sectors. The Indian Prime Minister invited Swedish defence firms to participate in the “Make in India programme,” particularly in the Defence Production Corridors in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
India – Sweden Relations
Political relations between India and Sweden have been amiably shaped with the first India-Nordic Summit in 2018 and a Royal Visit from the King and Queen of Sweden in December 2019. Economically, India is Sweden’s third-largest trade partner in Asia after China and Japan, with bilateral trade around USD 2 billion. The key trade commodities include articles of apparel, textiles, manufactures of metals, road vehicles and general industrial machinery.
First India-Nordic Summit
The first India-Nordic Summit, held in April 2018, saw India and five Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark) aim for deeper cooperation to tackle key issues of security, economic growth and climate change. The Nordic approach to innovation systems, characterized by strong collaboration between the public and private sectors and academia, was deemed particularly useful to India.
Leadership Group on Industry Transition
The Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) is an initiative launched by the Swedish and Indian governments at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019. The group aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, firmly believing that energy-intensive industry can progress on low-carbon pathways.