Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker arrives in India to boost bilateral ties, strategic partnership

New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) Austria’s Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker arrived in India on Wednesday for his first official visit, aimed at strengthening bilateral ties across key sectors such as trade, investment and emerging technologies.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X, “A warm welcome to Federal Chancellor Dr. Christian Stocker of Austria on his first official visit to India. He was received by Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports @khadseraksha at the airport. India and Austria share a warm and friendly relationship. Chancellor Stocker’s visit will impart further momentum to ‘Enhanced India–Austria partnership’.”

The four-day visit marks Stocker’s first trip to India and his maiden official visit to Asia since assuming office in 2025. During the visit, he is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focusing on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, green technology and critical sectors.

Stocker is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including senior ministers, government officials and business leaders, underlining the strong economic focus of the visit. Both sides are expected to explore opportunities to deepen collaboration in areas such as advanced manufacturing, digital innovation and renewable energy.

The visit comes amid growing economic engagement between the two countries. Discussions are also likely to cover regional and global issues of mutual interest, as well as cooperation in multilateral forums.

India and Austria share long-standing, friendly relations rooted in shared democratic values. The visit builds on the momentum generated by PM Modi’s visit to Austria in 2024 and is expected to further strengthen the India–Austria partnership, opening new avenues for strategic and economic cooperation.

Earlier in 2025, at the eighth round of India–Austria Foreign Office Consultations held in Vienna on December 12, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sibi George and Austria’s Secretary General for Foreign Affairs Nikolaus Marschik reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, both sides also discussed ways to further strengthen India–EU ties and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

–IANS

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