Swedish royal couple in India on a five-day official visit
NEW DELHI: Swedish royal couple King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia arrived New Delhi on Monday on a five-day state visit and were accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Later, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called on the royal guests.
“Adding greater vigour to India-sweden relations, HM King Carl XVI Gustaf & HM Queen Silvia arrived on a State visit to India. Adding greater momentum to exchanges at the highestlevel, this visit marks the fourth such occasion between India-sweden since 2015...,” Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
The Swedish royal couple held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and were slated visit Mumbai and Uttarakhand.
This is the second state visit to India by the Swedish royal couple. The first was in 1993.
In a pleasant surprise to fellow passengers, visiting Swedish royal couple arrived in India on board an Air India commercial flight from Stockholm, and carried their own bags after landing at the airport here on Monday.
“Very Proud moment for Air India when we had a Special Guest onboard. His Majesty Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus, King of Sweden and Her Majesty Silvia Renate Sommerlath travelled AI168 Stockholm to Delhi. Ms. Sangeeta Sanyal Country Manager Sweden greeted the Royal guests,” the flag carrier tweeted.
Air India also tweeted photographs of the royals shaking hands with an airline official, while disembarking at the Delhi airport, and holding their cabin baggage. India and Sweden chalked out the blueprint for linking innovation with aspirations at the High-level Policy Dialogue on Innovation Policy, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf here on Monday.
“Chalking out the blueprint for linking innovation with aspirations Pm@narendranodi and HM King Carl XVI Gustaf chaired the India-sweden
High-level Policy Dialogue on Innovation Policy,” tweeted MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.
“Both leaders emphasised the role of collaborative tech-innovation leadership of the two countries in meeting the challenges of the future,” he posted after the talks between the two sides.
Both leaders also discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation, and also in trade and investment, renewable energy, environment and climate change.