India-Switzerland review global matters in 13th Annual Bilateral Political Consultations

New Delhi [India], February 14 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs Secretary West, Tanmay Lal, and Swiss State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Alexandre Fasel held 13th round of annual bilateral political consultations, a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.
The consultations, held on Thursday, focused on multilateral cooperation, and regional and global matters of mutual interest, the statement said.
"India and Switzerland held the 13th round of Foreign Office Consultations on February 13, 2025 in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was led by Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Swiss side was headed by Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The co-chairs reviewed the entire gamut of India-Switzerland bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and regional and global matters of mutual interest. The discussion focussed over the progress in diverse sectors including trade and investment, India-EFTA TEPA, innovation and sustainabilty, air services matters, technology and mobility. They also discussed ways of increasing collaboration in new and emerging sectors of digitisation, AI and Quantum," the statement read.
Both the parties reviewed the MoU 'Technical cooperation in the field of Climate Change and Environment' and looked forward to an early renewal for the same.
"The co-chairs welcomed the impact of India-Swiss Innovation Platform to strengthen Space and Technology ties by harnessing innovation capacity to develop the startup ecosystem of the two countries. They also discussed the recent opening of EFTA dedicated desk at Invest India in Delhi and highlighted its significance for implementation and operationalization of the TEPA. Recognising the positive outcomes of the MoU on 'Technical cooperation in the field of Climate Change and Environment' signed in 2019, co-chairs looked forward to an early renewal of the MoU," the statement said.
"Both sides agreed to convene the next round of India-Switzerland Foreign Office Consultations at mutually convenient dates," the statement added.
The MEA said in a post on X that both the parties discussed about collaboration in innovation, technology and more.

Partnership for impact 🇮🇳 🇨🇭

India-Switzerland Foreign Office Consultations co-chaired by Secy West @Tanmaya_Lal & State Secy @SwissMFAStatSec .

Collaboration in Innovation, Technology, Sustainability, Digitization, Mobility, and more.

India-EFTA TEPA to drive trade &… pic.twitter.com/C9IW6Z1bc1

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) February 13, 2025

"Partnership for impact India-Switzerland. India-Switzerland Foreign Office Consultations co-chaired by Secretary West Tanmaya Lal and State Secretary Alexandre Fasel. Collaboration in Innovation, Technology, Sustainability, Digitisation, Mobility, and more. India-EFTA TEPA to drive trade and investment." (ANI)