75 years and going strong: How India and Sweden are charting a path to growth and success

This (2023) is a Jubilee Year for India and Sweden as we celebrate 75 years of bilateral relations. According to some experts, the India-Sweden connection can be traced back to an 8th-century Indian Buddha statuette that was found at an archaeological dig in 1954 at Helgö, Sweden. Swedish companies have had their presence in India long before 1947. Ericsson received its first order for a manual switch from India in 1903. SKF, the Swedish ball bearing manufacturer, started its operations in India in 1923 and in 2023 celebrates its 100 years in India. On the cultural front, Rabindranath Tagore received the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1913 and Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in Physics, in 1930. Post 1947, a strong foundation of bilateral relations began to be built. India and Sweden interacted with each other on many international geo-political initiatives like, both being strong voices against the Vietnam War, against Apartheid in South Africa, calling for universal nuclear disarmament. India also participated in the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972. Sweden supported India in its membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), extended support in India’s bid for its pending membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and supported India’s membership in the expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The new era of India-Sweden relations started in 2014. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven was invited to the ‘Make in India’ summit held in Mumbai in 2016. At the launch of Make in India (MII) Week, he said, “The world’s eyes are now on India. They used to be on China earlier, but they are now on India… I see many areas of cooperation (with India). First is innovation. There is great potential for cooperation in this field.” The watershed moment, not only in India-Sweden but India Nordic relations came in 2018 with the launch of the India-Nordic Summit. The first summit was held in 2018 in Stockholm. This was the first time ever, India engaged with the Nordic countries together as a bloc while simultaneously engaging with them bilaterally also. Concluding the summit, India and Sweden agreed on an innovation partnership and a joint action plan. This collaboration gave the much-needed impetus to sustainable growth and new job opportunities across both countries. Building upon the success of the first summit, the second India Nordic summit was held in 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The relationship between India and Sweden is driven by common economic interests, mutual commitment to global peace, and shared democratic values. Together the people of both countries are partnering in jointly developing innovative solutions to many of the global challenges. This year India holds the G20 presidency while Sweden is the EU presidency, thereby making it a unique opportunity for further supercharging this partnership. Speaking to Per-Arne Wikström, Head of Office of Science and Innovation, Embassy of Sweden, New Delhi, he said, “There is a joint sense of urgency in our present collaboration; both countries strive to create innovative solutions that push the boundaries of what’s possible. From a research and innovation point of view we today aim at fostering researcher mobility, collaboration between innovators, and joint research and innovation funding. I believe we will also see regional and state collaboration in the future. We are co creating a tapestry of collaboration between Sweden and India today that is very exciting to be a part of.” There is a huge presence of Swedish companies in India like Ericsson, Swedish Match (WIMCO), SKF, ASEA (later ABB), Atlas Copco, Sandvik, Alfa Laval, Volvo, AstraZeneca, SAAB. IKEA, H&M etc. Similarly, Indian companies especially in the IT sector have gained strong footholds in Sweden. India and Sweden are also partners in many international environmental initiatives, like the Solar alliance, LeadIT, etc. In the recent India-Sweden interactions, Elisabeth Svantesson, Minister of Finance, Sweden, was in Bengaluru to take part in the G20 meetings. Tobias Billstrom, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, was in India to take part in the Raisina Dialogues 2023. Today, the Indian diaspora in Sweden numbers nearly 50,000 Indians and not only brings economic value to the Swedish exchequer but also enriches Swedish society by bringing Indian music, dance, art, literature, films and cuisine to Sweden. This India-Sweden relationship is now growing and going from strength to strength as it promises many new openings to the people of both countries. Talking to Malin Mendel, Swedish journalist & author of Indian cookery books, she said, “From the response, I get from the viewers of my TV stories and readers of my books, my impression is that the interest for India has grown tremendously in the last couple of years. When I interact with corporate people, I feel they view India as a land of great opportunities. The most common questions I get are about travelling to India.” Rajesh Mehta is an international affairs expert focusing on areas like market entry, innovation, geopolitics and public policy. Manu Uniyal is a freelance writer and a media consultant based in Sweden, working in the areas of India-Nordic geopolitical and economic interactions, innovation & start-ups. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.