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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a series of bilateral meetings with her counterparts from the UK, Switzerland and Japan in Bangkok and discussed ways to deepen financial and economic cooperation. In her meeting with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF annual meetings, Sitharaman discussed the successful conclusion of the fourth India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue, fintech meetings and associated India-UK Financial Partnership (IUKFP) meetings, building on the outcomes of the previous Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD). Both sides agreed to hold the next EFD in December 2026, the finance ministry said in a post on X. Sitharaman also reaffirmed India's commitment to working closely with the UK on shared priorities and ensuring a constructive and inclusive G20 process. In a separate meeting with Swiss Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Finance Karin Keller-Sutter, the two sides discussed the India-EFTA Tra
India and Switzerland on Monday signed a migration and mobility partnership pact, decided to expand Swiss market access for Indian exports and agreed to further deepen cooperation in nuclear energy and defence domains following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swiss President Guy Parmelin. Parmelin kick-started his three-day trip to India this morning in his first state visit to the country and his second visit this year, having previously attended the AI Impact Summit in February. Alongside the mobility and migration pact, the two sides inked four other agreements, including a young professionals exchange scheme and a major deal to foster collaboration on transportation technologies, mobility systems, and infrastructure development. The Ukraine conflict and the situation in West Asia also figured prominently in the discussions, with Modi emphasising that both sides support all meaningful efforts toward peace. In his media statement, Modi said a series of important ..
Glaciers in Switzerland the home to the most in the Alps lost 5.5 per cent of their ice volume this year, the second-biggest percentage drop on record due to heat waves and low winter snowfall, experts report. "Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions," the GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a statement released Thursday. The trend has worsened in recent years: Over the past five years alone, the volume of ice in Switzerland has declined by nearly a fifth, the experts say. The report testifies to the latest concerns that global warming is wreaking havoc on Europe, the world's fastest-warming continent. "The warming that we are experiencing now can be attributed 100 per cent to anthropogenic climate change. It's as simple as that," said Matthias Huss, who heads GLAMOS. "Without human emissions or fossil fuels, we wouldn't have any warming at the moment." This year's ice volume loss continues ...
The US and Iran have agreed on a roadmap aimed at reaching a final agreement within 60 days following two days of talks at the Swiss resort of Burgenstock, according to a joint statement issued by mediators Pakistan and Qatar on Monday. The talks, held on Sunday and Monday, took place under the framework of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the US and Iran on Thursday to advance negotiations on regional security and other contentious issues. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also participated in the discussions, facilitating the negotiations. While the US team was led by Vice President JD Vance, the Iranian delegation was led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. In a joint statement issued after the conclusion of the Lake Lucerne Summit, the first high-level committee meeting since the signing of the MoU, the mediators stated that representatives of Iran, the US, Pakistan, and
The White House says Vice President JD Vance isn't leaving Thursday for Switzerland to lead a new round of talks with Iran about its nuclear programme, citing difficult logistics for negotiations meant to add details to an agreement signed by President Donald Trump a day ago. The White House said in a statement that plans for the technical talks have not been finalised, and the US delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity.
Voters in Switzerland have cast their final ballots on Sunday on an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the rich Alpine country's population at 10 million. Early results showed Swiss voters were leaning against it. The populist Swiss People's Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighbouring European Union. Some have dubbed the proposal a "Swiss Brexit" because it could jeopardise Switzerland's deep ties to the European Union anchored by deals that foster economic growth, cultural ties and cross-border travel, among other things. Switzerland is not one of the EU's 27 member states, but it is all but surrounded by four of them Recent polling from the gfs.bern agency suggested that it could be a close contest. Preliminary results shared by the federal government showed that nearly 53 per cent of voters rejected the proposal, with nationwide .
Issues following the implementation of the India-EFTA free trade agreement are expected to be discussed during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Switzerland this week. India and the four-nation bloc, EFTA, implemented the trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) in October 2025. European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Goyal will visit Berne, Switzerland, on June 12 for discussions with senior representatives of the Swiss government and leaders of the Swiss pharmaceutical industry. During the visit, the minister is scheduled to meet Helene Budliger Artieda, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Guy Parmelin, Federal President of Switzerland. He will also interact with representatives of the Swiss pharmaceutical industry. "Discussions are expected to focus on the implementation of TEPA, addressing operational issues arising from the agreement, and enhancing bilateral trade, investment a
A man stabbed and wounded three people in what authorities described as an "act of terror" at the train station in the Swiss city of Winterthur on Thursday before being arrested. The attack took place shortly before 8:30 am. The suspect, who was arrested five minutes after emergency services were alerted, is a 31-year-old Swiss-Turkish dual national who lives in Winterthur, regional police chief Marius Weyermann said. He had come to authorities' attention in 2015 for distributing propaganda of the Islamic State group, Weyermann added. In recent days, he was taken to a psychiatric facility after calling the police emergency number and making "confused comments", but he left on Wednesday after a doctor determined that he was not dangerous. Three Swiss men, aged 28, 43 and 52, were wounded in Thursday's attack. The first two were discharged or were about to be released from hospitals by mid-afternoon, Weyermann said. The oldest was still hospitalised after an operation on a thigh ...