What makes India one of Switzerland’s main partners in Asia? Why is Switzerland a household name in India?
To find answers to these questions one often looks through the pages of history to find that both India and Switzerland instantly became each other’s priority post independence. Both the countries share values of pluralism and vibrant democratic traditions. Switzerland’s swift recognition of India’s independence in 1947 paved the way for a strong bilateral relationship. Then, in August 1948, came the day when India and Switzerland signed the historic “Treaty of Friendship”, proposed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to lay the foundation for strong bilateral ties and economic prosperity.
In the past seven decades, India and Switzerland have regularly engaged in high powered state visits to consistently engage in all spheres of bilateral cooperation, including political, trade and commerce, science and technology, education and research, cultural exchanges as well as people-to-people connect. This long-standing, dynamic partnership has gained a significant momentum in the past 4-5 years, subsequent to the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Geneva in June 2016.This
high-level visit was followed by the State Visit of the Swiss President Doris Leuthard to India in August-September 2017.
In September 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind paid a State Visit to Switzerland accompanied by a high-level official and business delegation. President Kovind and Swiss President Ueli Maurer also made remarks at the India-Switzerland Business Round Table co-hosted by India and Switzerland on September 13, 2019, in Berne.
The Treaty of Friendship set the tone for future economic engagements, as Article 3 to 6 of this Treaty secured the “most favoured foreign nation treatment” to Switzerland. This treaty became the foundation stone for many more treaties to strengthen and boost economic ties, including Double Taxation Treaty in November, 1994; Amendment protocol in 2010; and Promotion and Protection of Investment Treaty in July 1997.
As for cultural connect between India and Switzerland, “there have been regular Indo–Swiss cultural exchanges in domains as diverse as art, architecture, food, entertainment, literature, and music, among others, and they have particularly seen a boom in the globalisation era.” Established in 2007 in New Delhi, The Swiss Arts Council promotes cultural exchanges between the two nations. As per reports,“India too, has left its mark on Swiss culture through Bollywood, Indian cuisine, and more recently Yoga and Ayurveda.
With changing times and current disruptions owing to COVID-19,it is expected that the two countries will collaborate even more closely to keep evolving and benefiting each other, today and tomorrow.
