India, Sweden aim to double trade, elevate ties to ‘strategic partnership’

The announcements were made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Swedish counterpart Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at Gothenburg and held wide-ranging talks. “In light of our growing cooperation across every sector, we have decided to elevate our relationship to the level of a strategic partnership," Modi announced.

Kristersson said this would include an enhanced political dialogue on security and defence matters and talks at the level of National Security Advisers of the two countries.

Earlier, Modi, while addressing the European Round Table for Industry, along with Kristersson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said, “Both our nations view innovation as a vehicle for development, regard sustainability as a shared responsibility and consider democracy to be our greatest strength... During today's meeting, we discussed how to build upon these shared commonalities to move forward.”

The relationship between India and Sweden rests upon a strong foundation of democratic values, the rule of law and human-centric development, said Modi, while lauding Sweden for supporting New Delhi after the terror attack at Pahalgam in April last year. “We will continue our fight against terrorists and their supporters,” Modi added.

"In India, work is being undertaken on a massive scale in the fields of green hydrogen, circular economy, and sustainable infrastructure," said Modi, adding, “By combining Sweden's technology with India's scale, we can develop climate solutions for the entire world".

Some 300 Swedish companies already operate in India and the Scandinavian nation hosts an 80,000-strong Indian diaspora.

The Swedish PM announced that the two countries were looking at scaling the space programme. “We have signed an MoU on having an orbital mission for Venus,” Kristersson added.

Swedish company Saab is building its first military equipment plant outside Sweden at Jhajjar, India's first 100 per cent FDI-driven defence manufacturing project. Sweden's status as host to one of Europe's largest critical mineral deposits opens a natural India-Sweden axis on supply-chain sovereignty for EVs, semiconductors and defence electronics.

On AI, the two sides agreed to deepen the Sweden-India Technology and AI Corridor, covering 6G, AI, quantum computing, life sciences and Digital India priorities. Some 80 Swedish companies had participated at the AI Impact Summit 2026.

On arrival in Sweden for his two-day visit on Sunday, Modi was greeted by Kristersson at Gothenburg Airport. Modi’s plane was ceremonially escorted by Swedish air force jets.

This marks Modi's ongoing European tour, already having resulted in agreements with the Netherlands and upcoming visits to Norway and Italy.