A look at India-Austria relations Firstpost

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Austria on July 9-10, becoming the first Indian leader to visit the country in 41 years.

Prime Minister Modi will first visit Russia and from there he is expected to leave for Austria.

The last Indian Prime Minister to visit Austria

The last Indian Prime Minister to visit Austria was Indira Gandhi in 1983. She had also visited the country in 1971.

Who was the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Austria?

Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Indian leader to visit Austria in 1955.

In November 1999, the then Indian President KR Narayanan paid India's first state visit to Austria, following which in 2011, former President Pratibha Patil visited the country.

High-level dialogues between India and Austria under the leadership of PM Modi

Modi's visit to Vienna comes days after he was sworn in as India's prime minister for the third consecutive time and months after the two countries launched the 'India-Austria Startup Bridge', introduced in February this year to foster innovation and entrepreneurship between the two countries.

Since assuming the office of Prime Minister, Modi has maintained cordial relations with Austria. During his first term, the Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with the then Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern in St. Petersburg on June 2, 2017, on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

During his second term as Prime Minister, on October 30, 2021, Modi met the then Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg on the sidelines of COP-26 in Glasgow.

On 26 May 2020, Prime Minister Modi also had a telephonic conversation with President Alexander Van der Bellen. The two leaders exchanged views on the measures taken in their countries to manage the adverse health and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. They also reiterated their shared desire to further strengthen and diversify Indo-Austrian relations in the post-Covid world.

As Prime Minister Modi prepares for his maiden trip to Vienna, let us take a look at India-Austria ties.

India-Austria Relations

1 – Diplomatic relations between India and Austria were established in 1949.

2 – From November 2023 to November 2024, India and Austria celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of their bilateral relations.

3 – India also contributed to the independence of Austria. In 1953, India intervened in favour of Austria in its negotiations with the Soviet Union on the Austrian State Treaty. This resulted in the independence of Austria in 1955.

4 – The Indo-Austrian Joint Economic Commission (JEC) was established in 1983 to provide a forum for bilateral interaction between the government

5 – Ministries and Chambers of Commerce and Industry. There have been more than 200 collaborations, including 100 technical collaborations and 60 joint ventures between Indian and Austrian companies, particularly in the fields of steel, manufacturing technology, railways and transport, equipment and metallurgy.

6 – Bilateral trade between India and Austria is balanced. India exports electronics, garments, textiles, footwear, rubber products, railway vehicles and parts, electrical machinery and mechanical appliances to Austria, while it imports machinery, mechanical appliances, railway parts, iron and steel.

7 – On 25 February 2013, the first two Austrian satellites TUGSAT-1/BRITE and UniBRITE were launched by the Indian PSLVC20 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

8- India and Austria have so far signed more than 20 MoUs, including on air services, promotion and protection of investments, cooperation in railway infrastructure, health, cooperation in science and technology, agriculture and technological cooperation in maritime transport and ports.

Indians in Austria

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), an estimated 31,000 Indians live in Austria, the majority of them from Kerala and Punjab.

The Indian diaspora is comprised mainly of professionals working in the health sector and in UN multilateral agencies, businessmen and self-employed individuals. They are roughly equally divided between NRIs and PIOs.

More than 500 Indian students are pursuing higher education in Austria, the MEA said.