EAM Jaishankar, Austrian FM hold delegation-level talks in New Delhi

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg held delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Sunday.

Earlier Jaishankar welcomed the Austrian Foreign Minister said that he "looks forward to productive discussions".

"A warm welcome back to Austrian FM @a_schallenberg to India. Look forward to productive discussions today," Jaishankar tweeted.

Alexander Schallenberg arrived here in India on Saturday. Schallenberg's India visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis.

Earlier, on Friday, India and Austria held the sixth round of Foreign Office Consultations virtually and discussed various aspects of bilateral relations including political, economic, commercial ties as well as cultural and academic linkages.

The Indian side was led by Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary (Europe and COVID19), and the Austrian side was led by Ambassador Gregor Koessler, Director General for Political Affairs in the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, according to the MEA.

"India and Austria have warm and cordial relations which are based on shared values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and equality. Our bilateral relations are marked by strong linkages across institutions, academia, culture, and people-to-people ties," MEA said in a statement.

The talks covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, and commercial ties as well as cultural and academic linkages, the ministry said.

It further stated that two sides exchanged views on the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery including vaccines. Regional and global issues including developments in the Indo-Pacific, neighbourhood policy, terrorism, and India-EU Relations, amongst others, were discussed.

The ministry added that the deliberations also covered multilateral issues such as United Nations reforms and India's priorities during its term in the United Nations Security Council.