Swedish royal couple wind up eventful Delhi leg of India visit

Swedish King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia arrived in India on Monday, to enhance their bilateral ties with the country. The royal couple is on a five-day visit to India, is also scheduled to visit Mumbai and Uttarakhand

New Delhi: King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden had an eventful Delhi leg of their five-day India visit during which they met the top leadership here and the two countries signed agreements in the fields of science and technology and shipping.

His third visit in India, King Carl Gustaf arrived in India two days back, leading a high profile business delegation.

The royal couple received a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday following which the Royal couple held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi.

The two leaders inaugurated the first High-Level Innovation Dialogue initiated under the aegis of Joint Innovation Partnership Agreement signed during PM Modi's visit to Sweden in April 2018, the Ministry Of External Affairs said in a statement.

The Innovation Dialogue saw the participation of researchers and the business community supported by the political leadership. They deliberated on ideas of future cooperation to find affordable, scalable technologies to tackle challenges of sustainable growth and minimizing the impact of climate change.

Later in the evening of December 2, the King met President Ram Nath Kovind after which three cooperation agreements in the fields of polar research, science and technology and shipping were signed.

In his discussion with President Kovind, King Carl Gustaf also lauded the contribution of the Indian community in Sweden.

Foreign Minister of Sweden also invited S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister to discuss matters of mutual interest.

King Carl presided over the Sweden Business Leaders' Round Table of along with Union Minister Piyush Goyal where they interacted with the business leaders of both the countries to explore new opportunities for economic collaboration.

In the discussion, Goyal highlighted the progress made on India's deep and diverse initiatives for Swedish investors.

In keeping with King Gustaf's interest to explore opportunities for Swedish companies in Namami Gange programme, he is going to visit the Serai Sewage Treatment Plant in Haridwar for water treatment technologies.

Additionally, Swedish companies are working on a pilot project in Mohali, where stubble from farms are being converted into bio-coal.

Queen Silvia on Tuesday visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and interacted with the faculty to understand the treatment practices and care provided by the premier health institute to patients with dementia.

The royal couple is scheduled to visit Maharashtra and Uttarakhand next.

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