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Swedish royal couple meets PM, vows to strengthen ties

New Delhi: King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as they began their five day India visit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.

The Swedish royal couple, who arrived here early this morning, were accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"PM @narendramodi welcomed Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf & HM Queen Silvia of Sweden at Hyderabad House in New Delhi for the delegation level talks," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted along with pictures of the Swedish King and Queen with the prime minister.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also called on the King and Queen after their arrival and held discussions on ways to deepen bilateral ties.

The King will also have a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind on ways to further boost relations.

Apart from Delhi, the royal couple is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Uttarakhand.

In Delhi, the King and Queen are scheduled to visit Jama Masjid, Red Fort and Gandhi Smriti on Monday. It is King Gustaf's third visit to India.

The King is leading a high-level business delegation from his country.

"Several documents on furthering bilateral engagement are likely to be signed," officials said. The ties between India and Sweden have been on an upward trajectory in the last few years. The bilateral trade volume was USD 3.37 billion in 2018.

"Bilateral relations between India and Sweden are friendly and based on principles of democracy and transparency, right to freedom, and rule of law. Regular interactions in political, business, scientific and academic spheres have provided dynamism to our bilateral ties," the MEA had said. Jaishankar, Swedish FM vow to step up counter terror cooperation

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide-ranging talks with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde and resolved to step up cooperation in international platforms to combat the challenge of terrorism.

Their talks come during the ongoing visit of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. "Wide-ranging conversation with Swedish FM Ann Linde. Discussed expanding bilateral cooperation in environment, manufacturing, health and Smart Cities. Urged greater mobility of Indian talent," Jaishankar tweeted after the talks.

"Strong identity of views on multilateralism. We agreed on a new consultation mechanism. Will cooperate closely in the UN," he said.

Jaishankar said he also discussed with Linde the challenge of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism.

"Emphasised that right to life is the most basic human right. Agreed to work together in international forums to address this key challenge of terrorism," he said.

Air India ferries Swedish royal couple to India on state visit; viral images win hearts New Delhi: National carrier Air India chipped in to ferry Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia to India when their aircraft developed a technical snag at the last minute, a rare instance of a royal couple using a commercial aircraft for a state visit to the country.

The Swedish king and queen, who are on their second five-day visit to India after 26 years, were scheduled to arrive here on their state aircraft. However, they arrived in a direct commercial flight of Air India from Stockholm to New Delhi Monday morning.

"The reason for the change was that there was a technical problem with the state aircraft," a Swedish official told PTI.

On arrival, they were greeted by country manager of Air India Sangeeta Sanyal.

"Very Proud moment of Air India when we had a Special Guest onboard.

His Majesty Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus , King of Sweden and Her Majesty Silvia Renate Sommerlath travelled AI168 Stockholm to Delhi. Sangeeta Sanyal Country Manager Sweden greeted the Royal guests," Air India tweeted.

The images of the Royal couple carrying their bags after disembarking the aircraft immediately went viral with Twitterati drawing

parallels with VIP culture in India.

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