Swiss Economic Affairs Minister Johann N. Schneider Ammann will be on a two-day visit to India from May 15. The visit — the first of a Swiss Cabinet Minister since the Modi Government joined office a year ago, comes at a time when India’s efforts to seek information from the Swiss authorities on black money held by Indians in bank accounts in the Alpine country have hit a wall of legal and technical issues.
Mr. Ammann will hold meetings on May 15 in New Delhi with Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Swiss Ambassador Linus von Castelmur told reporters on Monday. The next day, the Minister would visit Bengaluru, he said.
A meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is yet to be confirmed, he added.
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The visiting Minister will not be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he is scheduled to be out of the country on both the days.
The Swiss Minister would be accompanied by a delegation of businessmen and politicians. During the visit, various issues, including those related to trade, India’s IPR regime and steps for further strengthening the bilateral economic ties are expected to be taken up.
Switzerland is among the major sources of foreign investments in India. Swiss investors directly invested about $2.70 billion across sectors between April 2000 and March 2014. In addition, Swiss investors are estimated to have routed further investments of up to $ 5 billion through tax havens and other countries.
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