Swedish King, Queen to embark on 6-day India visit

King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will pay a six-day state visit to India from December 1 to 6.

The visit is taking place at the invitation of President Ram Nath Kovind. This is the Swedish King's third visit to India, the earlier visits being in 1993 and 2005.

During the visit, the Swedish King will have meetings with the President, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

"His Majesty will lead a high-level business delegation for engagements with Indian counterparts. Several documents on furthering bilateral engagement are likely to be signed," the ministry added.

Apart from an official programme in New Delhi, the royal couple is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Uttarakhand.

India and Sweden had a bilateral trade turnover of USD 3.37 billion in 2018 and cumulative investments of about USD 2.5 billion since the year 2000.

"Bilateral relations between India and Sweden are friendly and based on principles of democracy and transparency, right to freedom, and rule of law. Regular interactions in political, business, scientific and academic spheres have provided dynamism to our bilateral ties," MEA said.