India-Sweden Strategic Compass, Vol. 2, No. 5
Jagannath P. Panda, Erika Rutonen and Filip Borges Månsson
India-Sweden ties have continued to prosper this year as the two states celebrated 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations with increased interactions and visits by high-level officials from both sides. The Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Sweden earlier this year set the ball rolling for elevated discussions, including in AI, digital transformation, climate action, accelerated investments, access to business opportunities, and Indo-Pacific affairs. For Sweden, the visits by State Secretary for Foreign Trade Håkan Jevrell twice in a year highlighted the growing trajectory of India’s relations with Europe in general (as exemplified by increased interactions with Nordic states, as well as PM Modi’s
successful visits to France and Greece earlier this year), and Sweden in particular.
In this regard, India’s pivotal G20 presidency has been a huge factor; that this term coincided with Sweden’s six-month presidency of the EU Council was the icing on the cake. Notably, the G20 summit’s theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” a Sanskrit phrase meaning “the world is one family,” epitomized the stress on sorely lacking international cooperation in this era of war and abiding conflicts. Therefore, in keeping with the need of the times, the agenda for this year was rightly international peace, digital transition, climate, sustainable growth, and developmental finance.
Going forward, Sweden and India collaborating on these global challenges, as well as fostering international cooperation, including with the Nordic, Baltic, and the EU member-states, for a rules-based Indo-Pacific order would provide momentum to their individual efforts in this direction.
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