India, Switzerland double down on trade, infra ties

New Delhi India and Switzerland on Monday signed several agreements and MoUs aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in sustainable infrastructure, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and professional exchanges. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Guy Parmelin held talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi and reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations. Among the key agreements was the Exchange of Young Professionals (YPS), which will facilitate temporary employment opportunities for young professionals from both countries. The programme is intended to help participants strengthen their professional and language skills while gaining international work experience. Under the arrangement, up to 300 young professionals from each country can participate annually, with the number potentially increasing to 500. The agreement also provides timelines of 30 to 90 days for verification of nationality and residency status. India and Switzerland also signed an MoU on the promotion and collaboration of transportation technologies. The agreement seeks to advance sustainable infrastructure and mobility systems, with cooperation covering electric vehicles, ropeways, tunnels, circular economy initiatives and other transportation sectors. A Letter of Intent between India’s Department of Science and Technology and the Swiss National Science Foundation will support long-term collaboration between research communities. It will encourage exploratory scientific cooperation, joint research partnerships and initiatives in mutually agreed priority areas. Another Implementation Arrangement will promote innovation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship through the Indo-Swiss Academia-Industry Training programme for early-stage startups. The programme will support bilateral exchanges, joint workshops, capability building and networking. Modi said new joint research projects would soon be launched in health, clean energy and space.