Swiss President Guy Parmelin is expected to travel to India next week, with a high-level meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to form the centrepiece of the itinerary.

The proposed trip follows Parmelin's visit to New Delhi in February this year, when he attended the AI Impact Summit 2026 and held bilateral talks with Modi on February 19 on the sidelines of the event.

During that February meeting, the two leaders took stock of the full gamut of India-Switzerland relations, covering trade and investment, science and technology, innovation, skill development, cultural exchanges and people-to-people ties.

Parmelin also highlighted that the outcomes of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 would help shape the agenda for the next global gathering, which Switzerland is expected to host in 2027.

Both sides welcomed the deepening economic momentum generated by the implementation of the India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), of which Switzerland is a key member.

The TEPA, signed on March 10, 2024 and operational since October 1, 2025, is India's first comprehensive trade pact with European countries and covers Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Under the agreement, EFTA has committed to improved market access across 92.2 per cent of its tariff lines, covering 99.6 per cent of India's exports, along with tariff concessions on processed agricultural products.

India, in turn, will gradually reduce or eliminate 82.7 per cent of tariff lines, making 95.3 per cent of EFTA exports to India more affordable over a phased period of up to ten years.

The pact also carries a forward-looking commitment of $100 billion in investments and the creation of 1 million jobs over 15 years, aimed at boosting trade, accelerating investment flows and facilitating business between India and the EFTA states.

Parmelin's February 2026 trip remains his most recent visit to India before the upcoming one.

The next visit is expected to offer both sides a chance to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade, investment, technology, innovation and emerging areas of strategic partnership.

Modi also met Parmelin in Geneva on June 16 while the Prime Minister was en route to Evian, France, for his participation in the G7 Summit.

India and Switzerland have maintained cordial and friendly ties since Independence, with their relationship rooted in shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law.

India's policy of non-alignment and Switzerland's longstanding neutrality have fostered strong mutual understanding between the two countries.

The two nations formally established diplomatic relations on August 14, 1948, with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship in New Delhi, one of the first such agreements entered into by independent India.

In recent months, high-level engagement has continued, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meeting Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2026 to review economic ties and TEPA implementation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also met Switzerland's AIIB Governor, Ambassador Pietro Lazzeri, in Qatar in late September 2026, highlighting the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund as a trusted partner for Swiss investors.

Switzerland's Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Parmelin has been actively engaged in advancing the TEPA agenda, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also visiting Switzerland in mid-2026 to discuss implementation and Swiss pharma investments in India.

India's Commerce Secretary visited Switzerland on May 6-7, 2026 to review TEPA progress and deepen bilateral trade and investment ties, addressing a high-level business roundtable attended by senior representatives from leading Swiss companies.

With a total trade of $23.27 billion, Switzerland was India's 15th largest trading partner in FY 2024-25, though the trade balance has historically favoured Switzerland.

India is Switzerland's largest trading partner in South Asia, and the two countries have signed numerous bilateral agreements covering trade, development cooperation, education, vocational training, visas, migration, air traffic, investment, finance, taxation and scientific and technological cooperation.

The upcoming second India-EFTA Prosperity Summit in New Delhi in October 2026 is expected to review TEPA implementation, address market access and procedural bottlenecks, and explore ways to expand trade and investment further.

ANI