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Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on Saturday arrived in India as he begins his first official visit to the country.
"We welcome Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as he begins his first official visit to India," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. Schallenberg's India visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis. Earlier, on Friday, India and Austria held the sixth round of Foreign Office Consultations virtually and discussed various aspects of bilateral relations including political, economic, commercial ties as well as cultural and academic linkages. The Indian side was led by Dammu Ravi, Additional Secretary (Europe and COVID19), and the Austrian side was led by Ambassador Gregor Koessler, Director General for Political Affairs in the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, according to the MEA. "India and Austria have warm and cordial relations which are based on shared values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and equality. Our bilateral relations are marked by strong linkages across institutions, academia, culture, and people-to-people ties," MEA said in a statement. The talks covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, and commercial ties as well as cultural and academic linkages, the ministry said. It further stated that two sides exchanged views on the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery including vaccines. Regional and global issues including developments in the Indo-Pacific, neighbourhood policy, terrorism, and India-EU Relations, amongst others, were discussed. The ministry added that the deliberations also covered multilateral issues such as United Nations reforms and India's priorities during its term in the United Nations Security Council. (ANI)
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