President Pranab Mukherjee will pay a state visit to Sweden and Belarus next week, the first time an Indian president has visited both European nations.
"President Pranab Mukherjee will pay a state visit to Sweden from May 31 to June 2 and thereafter he will be going on to Belarus on a state visit, staying there till June 4," Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West) Navtej Sarna confirmed at a press conference here.
Sarna further shared President Mukherjee's itinerary in Sweden.
"His host in Sweden will be His Majesty King Carl Gustaf XVI, who has been the ruling monarch for the last 42 years. He will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Hansraj Ahir as well as Members of Parliament Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashwani Kumar. He will also be accompanied by seven Vice Chancellors of leading Indian universities and over 60 business leaders to conduct a business forum," he said.
"During his visit of Sweden, he will receive a ceremonial welcome by the royal couple and thereafter he will interact with members of the Indian community: around 9,000 people of Indian origin and another 9,000 people who hold Indian passports. He will also interact with the Sweden King and Queen, besides interacting with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament as well as the leader of opposition. There will also be a state banquet," he added.
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"On June 2, the President will visit the Karolinska Institutet, which is the foremost leading institute for medicine and related studies as well as visiting the Uppsala University, which is the one of the
oldest European universities. He will also visit a Swedish 'Smart City' and be briefed on how it works on different aspects of civic governance," he further said.
Sarna further noted that Sweden is one of the largest FDI investors for India.
"Sweden is the 12th largest contributor to FDI in India and had supported India's candidature as an observer for the Arctic Council," he said.
