The King and Queen will pay a State Visit to India, Dec 2–6 2019 at the invitation of President Ram Nath Kovind

New Delhi, November 28, 2019: Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden will pay a State Visit to India on December 2–6 2019 at the invitation of President Ram Nath Kovind. The aim of the State Visit is further to strengthen the good relations between Sweden and India, and to promote Swedish-Indian cooperation, including within the frameworks of the Joint Action Plan, the Innovation Partnership and existing memoranda of understanding. The visit affirms Sweden’s commitment to be a key partner for India in its rapid development, and in efforts to tackle common challenges in areas such as the climate change /environment, infrastructure, research and health. The visit aims to enable increased trade and investment for Swedish and Indian companies in both directions. The State Visit will last for five days during which Their Majesties will travel to New Delhi, Mumbai and the state of Uttarakhand. The programme includes meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Their Majesties will attend the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Innovation Policy, visit the Versova Beach Cleaning activity, visit Doorstep School that provides education for children who are first-generation school goers and attend the Tekla Workshop and Dialogue which aims at correcting the underrepresentation of girls and women in technology. Their Majesties then proceed to Uttarakhand to visit the Ganges. The Swedish Government will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and State Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Maja Fjaestad in the State Visit. In addition, a high-level Business Delegation representing Swedish Companies – encompassing both large, well-established companies and start-ups – will take part, along with representatives of Swedish Government agencies and universities. This is the second State Visit to India by Their Majesties, the first was in 1993. It is the fourth high-level exchange between Sweden and India since 2015 when Former President Pranab Mukherjee was on a historic first State Visit to Sweden. In 2016, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited India and in 2018 Prime Minister Modi visited Sweden.