India and Switzerland have signed five bilateral agreements during the state visit of the President of the Swiss Confederation, covering areas of migration mobility, professional exchange, transportation technology, and scientific research collaboration.
The Migration and Mobility Partnership MoU aims to develop cooperation under equal treatment principles and combat irregular migration, human exploitation, and trafficking in accordance with national laws. The agreement provides for multiple-entry visas valid for up to 5 years, allowing stays of up to 6 months on each visit, along with renewable 1-year student permits.
The Agreement on the Exchange of Young Professionals governs the exchange of young professionals taking up temporary employment in the other country to enhance their professional and language skills within their field. The program incorporates an exchange of 300 persons annually per country, which may increase to 500, with a timeline of 30/90 days for verification of nationality/residency status.
The MoU on Promotion and Collaboration on Transportation Technologies, Mobility Systems and Infrastructure between the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research and India's Ministry of Road Transport & Highways aims to promote collaboration in sustainable infrastructure development. The focus areas include electric vehicles, ropeways, circular economy, tunnels, and other transport sectors.
A Letter of Intent between India's Department of Science and Technology and the Swiss National Science Foundation aims to promote long-term cooperation between research communities by supporting exploratory scientific collaboration and building partnerships for future joint research across mutually agreed priority areas.
An Implementation Arrangement for cooperation in Innovation, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship between India's Department of Science and Technology and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences establishes bilateral cooperation through the Indo-Swiss Academia-Industry Training program for early-stage startups. This includes bilateral exchange, joint workshops, capability building, and networking.
Additionally, an inaugural session of the Indo-Swiss Research Flagship event was announced in collaboration with India's Ministry of Science and Technology.
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