At the invitation of Prime Minister Löfven, Prime Minister Modi paid an official visit to Stockholm on 16-17 April 2018.
Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Löfven met on 17 April and recalled their Joint Statement issued in Mumbai in 2016, welcomed progress so far on its implementation and reconfirmed their commitment to the Joint Statement as the overall political framework for cooperation.
India and Sweden share values of democracy, rule of law, respect of human rights, pluralism and a rule-based international order. Both Prime Ministers reiterated their commitment to dialogue and cooperation on key international issues of mutual concern, including climate change, Agenda 2030, international peace and security, human rights, gender equality, humanitarian issues, international trade. The Prime Ministers underlined the urgency to step up global efforts to combat climate change, and emphasized their common continued commitment to the Paris Agreement. Both sides agreed to continue security policy dialogue at the level of National Security Advisors, in line with the Joint Statement.
Both Prime Ministers agreed to close cooperation in the UN, and other multilateral fora. They took note of the UN Secretary-General’s reform efforts to ensure a UN fit to support Member States to deliver on Agenda 2030. They also reaffirmed the need for reform of the UN Security Council, including its expansion, to make it more representative, accountable, effective, and responsive to the realities of the 21st century. Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Löfven for Sweden’s support to India’s candidature for non-permanent membership of United Nations Security Council (2021-22) and for Sweden’s support to India’s permanent membership of a reformed and expanded United Nations Security Council.
Both Prime Ministers expressed their commitment to support and strengthen global export control, non-proliferation and disarmament objectives and looked forward to close cooperation in these areas. Prime Minister Löfven welcomed India’s recent accession to the international export control regimes, including to Australia Group (AG), Wassenaar Arrangement (WA),Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR),and The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC), and expressed support for India’s membership of the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG).
Both Prime Ministers called for greater unity and stronger international partnership to counter terrorism, disrupt terrorist networks and financing, and to prevent violent extremism. They emphasized that the global counter terrorism legal framework should be regularly updated to address the changing threat of terrorism with strength, and underscored that any measures taken to counter terrorism comply with international law. In this regard both countries called for an early finalisation of the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).
