Sweden-India Relations

This year there have been three ministerial interactions- Foreign Ministers (Munich in Feb 2022); Environment Ministers (Nairobi in March 2022); Aviation & Infrastructure Ministers (Virtual in March 2022)Indo-Nordic Summit 2022

Heads of State of all Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland) interacted with Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi

A high-level bilateral discussion was held on April 25, 2022, between Hon’ble CIM Shri Piyush Goyal and Ms. Anna Hallberg, Swedish Minister of Foreign Trade and Nordic Affairs on Russia-Ukraine, the upcoming Joint Commission for Economic, Industrial and Scientific Cooperation (JCEC) and India Sweden Business Leader Roundtable (ISBLRT), EU-FTA negotiations, Indo-Nordic Patent Prosecution Highways, MoU on Civil Aviation.

Joint funding call on Circular Economy: The Intsam group (Vinnova, Swedish Research Council, Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Forte) and India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) have come together for a new joint call on circular economy to drive cross-sectoral research on circular economy.

Letter of Agreement between STINT and Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB, an autonomous body of DST) on researcher mobility exchange has been signed.

India-Sweden joint global initiative to set up a Leadership Group on Industry Transition (LeadIT) in September 2019 at the UN Climate Action Summit to help guide the world’s heaviest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting industries towards the low-carbon economy. Its membership has now grown to 35 with 16 countries and 19 companies.

Sweden is the 22nd largest investor in India, with cumulative FDI inflows of $2.13 Bn during April 2000-March 2022. The sectors attracting the most FDI from Sweden are Healthcare, Construction and Engineering, motor vehicles, paper & pulp products, Telecommunications, Steel, Drug & Pharmaceuticals and Chemical.

Bilateral trade between the two countries has been growing steadily and reached $2.2 bn for the period April 2021- March 2022.

India – Sweden Trade Overview: Bilateral trade between India & Sweden has increased by 41% since 2020-21. Total trade was $ 2.4 Bn in 2021-22.

• Exports to SWEDEN (2021-22): $1.03 Bn
• Imports from SWEDEN (2021-22): $1.4 Bn

Top 5 Exports to Sweden:

1. Nuclear Reactors and Machinery
2. Apparel and Clothing Accessories
3. Machinery and its Appliances
4. Vehicles other than Railways
5. Textiles

Top 5 Imports from Sweden:

1. Nuclear Reactors and Machinery
2. Iron and Steel
3. Electrical Machinery & Equipment
4. Vehicles other than Railways
5. Pulp of Wood, Waste and Paper

There are over 200 Swedish companies operating in India, creating 200,000 direct jobs and 2,200,000 indirect jobs. This is testament to the strength of Indo-Sweden Association.

India is Sweden’s 19th largest export (update) market and third largest trade partner after China and Japan in Asia. The main items of Indian exports are garments, textiles, chemical products, food products, and semi manufactured and manufactured goods.

Business Survey Report:

• 190 Swedish companies in India participated in the survey, Companies are more positive now than in 2019 or 2020.
• 8 out of 10 companies foresee increased turnover in the coming 12 months, 1 out of 2 companies indicate growing investment plans this year
• 3 out of 10 companies consider India to be competitive/ very competitive in global value chains, 60 companies manufacture in India
• 3 out of 4 companies produce for domestic & export markets, 7 out of 10 are positive to the ambition of Atmanirbhar Bharat (Make in India 2.0) programme: http://swedishchamber.in/sites/default/files/A%20Green%20Journey%20%28IInd%20Edition%29.pdf

Sustainability Report:

• 49 SWEDISH COMPANIES IN THE STUDY, 67% of the companies are manufacturing in India, mainly in Maharashtra, Karnataka and NCR.
• Companies range from small to large, 66,805 MWh of green electricity generated
• 51% undertake rain-water harvesting, 56% use recycled raw materials in products or packaging http://swedishchamber.in/sites/default/files/BCS%202021%20%282%29.pdf

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, and Umeå, among others.

Indian classical arts, especially music and dance, are widely appreciated in Sweden. Yoga (and also Ayurveda) are popular among the Swedes. A day long Ayurveda Seminar was organised in Feb 2022 where around 70 Ayurveda practitioners from Sweden joined. Around 20,000 Swedish tourists are estimated to have visited India in 2019.

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.

A popular annual cultural event ‘Namaste Stockholm’ is supported by the Embassy of India. It is estimated that the event attracts around 15,000-20,000 visitors. The event exposes Indian culture to Swedish people through dance performances, music, food, and culture from India.

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