India-Sweden Strategic Compass, Vol.3 No. 3 May-June 2024

Post the elections both in the European Parliament and India, the momentum in foreign policymaking should ideally resume its earlier pace. Notably, concluding timely negotiations for the much-awaited EU-India free trade agreement within this year would be mutually beneficial. Even as election results in Europe offer a new trend, the bilateral trajectory growth with India should not be impacted.

Particularly as India’s growth has looked strong and India’s top decision-makers, including the foreign minister, defense minister, and finance minister have been retained by the prime minister, who is returning for a record third time. PM Modi and FM Jaishankar’s foreign policy priorities would unlikely have changed with the election results, as the EU and its member-states are some of the most important Indo-Pacific partners for India. In this context, India and Sweden have long-standing close ties, and over the last year their strong economic centered relations have looked to transform – with security concerns including cyber-security, counter-terrorism, and joint collaborations on defense also being included in the foreign office consultations.

The year 2023 was especially remarkable with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations and multiple ministerial-level visits, including Jaishankar’s notable visit that saw discussions on the Indo-Pacific, European strategic situation, and de-risking the global economy – a successful pivot to the growing strategic linkages between the two sides. India and Sweden must now push for elevating their ties, as well as strengthening India-EU cooperation, including providing impetus to the India-EU FTA talks (the seventh round concluded in February 2024) and enhanced coordination at the Trade & Technology Council (TTC). The TTC was announced in 2022, and under which new initiatives have been launched earlier this year (e.g., start-up collaboration on Recycling of E-Vehicles Batteries).