NEW DELHI, October 5 — Following delegation-level deliberations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Swiss President Guy Parmelin at Hyderabad House, India and Switzerland finalized and exchanged five comprehensive bilateral cooperation instruments spanning professional mobility, scientific innovation, and transportation technology.
Among the core pacts is the landmark Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement alongside the institutionalized Young Professionals Scheme (YPS). Under the YPS framework, between 300 and 500 annual reciprocal visas will be granted to qualified degree holders aged 18 to 30 to pursue advanced employment immersion and language acquisition for tenures of up to 18 months. Simultaneously, an intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding on Transportation Technologies was sealed, mobilizing Swiss engineering expertise in alpine tunneling, electric ropeways, and circular transportation logistics.
In research and deep technology, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) signed a Letter of Intent for long-term joint R&D funding, supplemented by an Implementation Arrangement for the "Indo-Swiss Academia-Industry Training" (AIT India) accelerator supporting deep-tech startups. The agreements consolidate the operational momentum of the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), targeting $100 billion in outbound EFTA capital into India.
Bilateral mobility compacts, labor mobility mechanisms, and Indo-European economic diplomacy are core themes in UPSC GS Paper II (Bilateral & Regional Agreements) and international relations examinations. Candidates should remember that Switzerland is India's largest trading and investment partner within the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA), with the TEPA pact formally signed on March 10, 2024.