New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Federal Chancellor of Austria, Christian Stocker will pay an official visit to India from April 14–17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Thursday.

Arriving in India on his first visit – also his first official visit to Asia – at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chancellor Stocker will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Federal Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, senior officials and business leaders.

The MEA stated that, during the visit, PM Modi and Chancellor Stocker will hold discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation across a wide range of areas. They will also exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in multilateral fora. The Prime Minister will host a lunch in honour of the visiting dignitary.

Stocker will also call on President Droupadi Murmu besides meeting External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar during his stay in New Delhi.

“India and Austria share warm, friendly and multi-faceted ties, rooted in shared democratic values. The highly successful visit of Prime Minister to Austria in July 2024 substantially elevated the contemporary relations between the two countries. The visit of Federal Chancellor Stocker also reflects the shared commitment of both countries to further deepen and expand partnership in new areas of mutual interest,” read a statement issued by the MEA.

PM Modi had paid an official visit to Austria from July 9-10, 2024 at the invitation of then Chancellor Karl Nehammer. This was the Prime Minister’s first visit to Austria and that of an Indian Prime Minister after 41 years. The year also marked the 75th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During the landmark visit, both leaders had reiterated their commitment to continue their efforts towards deepening and widening bilateral, regional and international cooperation for a more stable, prosperous and sustainable world.

They had recognised that the two countries have the potential to significantly upgrade their bilateral partnership to a higher level and agreed to adopt a strategic approach to advance this shared objective.

To this end, the MEA had stated then, in addition to closer political-level dialogue, the two leaders had emphasised on a future-oriented bilateral sustainable economic and technology partnership, covering a range of new initiatives and joint projects, collaborative technology development, research and innovation and business-to-business engagement inter alia in green and digital technologies, infrastructure, renewable energy, water management, life sciences, smart cities, mobility and transportation.

–IANS

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