An MoU is likely to be signed between the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations for setting up of the Tagore Chair on Indian Studies, in honour of the poet Rabindranath Tagore.

The President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Friday left for a 8-day state visit to Switzerland and Austria, leading a high level official and business delegation, including some Members of the Parliament. On board the plane, the President said : “ My visit is a part of the process of maintaining our high level engagement with these friendly countries….. Some of the areas which I would be highlighting in the bilateral context are economic and commercial cooperation, scientific ties, educational exchanges and people-to-people contacts.”

The President will be in Switzerland from September 30 to October 4 and in Austria from October 4 to 7.
While in Berne, the President will hold official talks with the President of the Swiss Confederation Her Excellency Mrs. Micheline Calmy-Rey, and other members of the Federal Council. The discussions, inter alia, are expected to cover various aspects of bilateral relations and regional and international issues.

Austria is likely to be India’s gateway to Eastern Europe. In Vienna, the President said her engagements would include delegation-level discussions with the Austrian President Heinz Fischer and meetings with Austrian Chancellor, Werner Faymann and the Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, Barbara Prammer.

“I would be exchanging views with my counterparts in both countries on international issues such as international terrorism, climate change and reforms of the United Nations.”

About 100 days before the President’s visit to Switzerland the amending protocol to the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with that country has been concluded. India has already ratified it but in the case of the Swiss Confederation, after it is introduced in Parliament it has to wait for hundred days before it comes up as a ratified document. Thereafter, there will be exchange of letters between the two sides for it to be effective. One of the most important elements in the amended protocol is Article 26 relating to exchange of information on tax evasion.

In Switzerland, the President will pay homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 at his statue in front of the United Nations building in Ariana Park in Geneva. The statue was unveiled in November 14, 2007 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Switzerland.
While in Switzerland, the President will also unveil a bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Lausanne on October 4, 2011. It is significant that this event would take place at the time of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

The President will visit the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, which is better known by its acronym CERN, on October 1, 2011. This is one of the largest and most reputed centres for scientific research, particularly on particle physics, in the world and it has been in the news recently because of the Large Hadron Collider and the issue of neutrinos travelling faster than space. Of course that itself has opened up to debate as to how was this measured, whether the neutrinos did travel faster than light, was the Moon gravity in a different stage. India is an observer Member State to CERN, in which about 200 Indian /Indian origin scientists are working.

State Banquets will be hosted in honour of the President in Berne and Vienna. The Governor and Mayor of Salzburg will host an official Banquet in honour of the President when the President visits Salzburg in Austria.

While in Switzerland and Austria, the President will also meet and address the members of the Indian community. There are around 15,500 Persons of Indian Origin in the Swiss Confederation and around 20,000 Persons of Indian Origin in Austria.

The President will address the Indo-Swiss Business Forum in Berne on October 4, 2011 and the India-Austria Business Forum Meet in Vienna on October 6, 2011.

Two-way trade in 2010 between India and Switzerland touched $ 3.8 billion and between Austria and India it was over $ 1.2 billion. Both Switzerland and Austria have a healthy level of investment related activity in India and also India has investments in these countries. Both Switzerland and Austria are renowned for their experience and expertise in the high technology related areas, renewable and clean energy, infrastructure development, vocational education, small and medium enterprises, drugs and pharmaceuticals, biotechnology besides others. The presence of the 45-member Indian business delegation will allow both sides to consider the opportunities which exists in not only taking forward the current commercial exchanges but in also considering the considerable untapped potential which so exists.

The Indian business delegation includes from sectors like manufacturing, agrochemicals, banking and finance, FMCG, communications, infrastructure, biotechnology, engineering and manufacturing, information technology, food processing, logistics, trading and textiles.