India-Sweden Strategic Compass

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).