Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media,

I warmly welcome you on-board, as I begin my State Visits to the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of Austria, which are two important partners of India in Central Europe. India shares core values of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human dignity with them.

The President of the Swiss Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey paid a State Visit to India in November, 2007. The Austrian President Heinz Fischer had visited India in February 2005. My visit is a part of the process of maintaining our high level engagement with these friendly countries. Significantly, our relations with both countries have important historical highlights. The Treaty of Friendship signed by India with Switzerland, was one of the first treaties to be signed by India as an independent country. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru played an important role in facilitating an agreement on Austria's State Treaty of 1955, which paved the way for Austria's independence.

My first engagement would be a visit to the European Council for Nuclear Research, one of the world's largest and most reputed centres for scientific research. India is an observer Member State to CERN, in which about 200 Indian /Indian origin scientists are working. On October 2, the birthday of the Father of our Nation - a day so important in our national calendar - I would be paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue in front of the United Nations building in Geneva, in Ariana Park located on the Avenue of Peace. The statue itself was unveiled on November 14, 2007 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Switzerland. I would also be meeting the Indian community in Geneva.

Thereafter, in Berne I would be having wide-ranging discussions with President Calmy-Rey and other members of the Federal Council of Switzerland. It would be recalled that during President Calmy-Rey's visit in 2007, the two sides had discussed the need to elevate the bilateral relationship to the level of a Privileged Partnership. This would, in our view, require a diversification and enhancement of cooperation and closer understanding on bilateral and multilateral issues of common concern. We would be discussing how to achieve this. Some of the areas which I would be highlighting in the bilateral context are economic and commercial cooperation, scientific ties, educational exchanges and people-to-people contacts.

I will be unveiling the bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Lausanne on October 4, 2011 where a "Tagore Chair" on Indian Studies is also being set up. I am happy that these events are taking place in the year in which we are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of the Poet Laureate.

Today, economic and commercial cooperation have emerged as the core of the India-Switzerland relationship. Between 2006 and 2010, two-way trade has risen by approximately 36 percent and touched US$ 3.7 billion. Switzerland has emerged as one of the top investors in India as also a source of advanced technology in diverse fields such as engineering, precision instruments, textile production. We would like to see more Swiss firms using India as a manufacturing base for exports to third countries as well as an R &D centre. There is also an excellent potential for harnessing Swiss technologies to meet our developmental needs in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and vocational education.

My visit to Austria aims at signalling the importance we attach to this bilateral relationship, and to further expand and strengthen our ties. In Vienna, my engagements include delegation-level discussions with the Austrian President Mr. Heinz Fischer and meetings with the Austrian Chancellor Mr. Werner Faymann and the Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, Ms. Barbara Prammer.

Our trade with Austria has increased by 55 percent between 2006 and 2010. It touched US $ 1.1 billion in 2010. Since the first Indo-Austrian industrial collaboration was signed in 1956, there has been significant cooperation through a large number of collaborations, know-how transfers and joint Ventures in multiple areas, including in our infrastructure sector such as railways, roads and steel production. We hope to enhance our economic partnership and cooperation in other areas.

Indian firms have begun to invest in Switzerland and Austria, using their location as a gateway to Europe. An Indian business delegation will be in Geneva and Vienna during my visit, to explore trade and investment opportunities.

It is important to promote people-to-people exchanges with Austria and Switzerland, where there is a strong interest in Indian culture and languages. In Austria, for example, Sanskrit began to be taught at the University of Vienna in 1845, which transformed itself into a popular separate Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies. In Switzerland, Sanskrit courses began in 1903 in the University of Lausanne and today there are thriving Centres for Indian Studies in the Universities of Lausanne as well as Zurich. Indian films are quite well-known in both countries and along with the numerous events focusing on India this year, would have given the Swiss and the Austrian citizens a good glimpse of India. We would like to see more tourists visiting India from both these countries.

Switzerland as well as Austria are active members of several international organizations; many of which are based in these countries. I would be exchanging views with my counterparts in both countries on international issues such as international terrorism, climate change and reforms of the United Nations.

I am confident that my visits to Switzerland and Austria would provide an additional momentum to our already existing multi-dimensional relations with these countries.

In these countries, the media will, I am sure, get an opportunity to see the potential that exists for mutually beneficial co-operation in many areas and sectors. In my interaction on 26th September, with the Indian Business delegation, which will be present in Berne and Vienna during my visit, I noted the general positive prognosis that they have about forging business ties with Swiss and Austrian enterprises.

I hope you will enjoy the visit.

Thank you.