2017 saw incoming high level visits from Cyprus, Turkey, Switzerland and Latvia. There were
outgoing visits of Vice President to Poland and Prime Minister to World Economic Forum and
bilateral meeting at Davos, Switzerland. The focus was on disseminating information about
progress on the parameters of Ease of Doing Business, creating a unified market through the
Goods and Services Tax, liberalization of investment and licensing policies, Insolvency and
bankruptcy Code, productive disinvestment measures, launch of digital employment exchanges
and government initiatives namely Make in India, start-up/stand-up India, housing for all, urban
renewal and rejuvenation, infrastructure including digital infrastructure and Industrial Corridors,
Swachh Bharat and Skill India. India and the central European countries continued to extend
support to each other in various international fora including the support for each other candidates
in international organizations. The 4th India Europe twenty-nine business forum was organized
in March 2018.
West Europe: India’s engagement with countries in West Europe including Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Andorra
and Monaco saw an upswing during fiscal 2016-17. The year was marked with a series of high-
level political visits. The 14th India-EU Summit was held 2017. The European Investment Bank
also established its South Asian Regional Office in New Delhi. The Prime Minister of Italy
visited India in 2017, the first in the last ten years. The visit not only gave a fresh impetus to the
bilateral ties, but also sought to revitalize on-going multi-sectoral engagements between the two
countries. To commemorate 70 years of establishment of diplomatic ties, Belgian Royals visited
India in 2017. The visit was aimed at broad-basing the overall political and economic
engagement between the two countries. The Prince of Wales ( and the Duchess of Cornwall
visited India in 2017. The visit was in connection with the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting in London. Overall, India’s engagement with the countries in Europe West during the
year has been deepened with enhanced cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure, science
and technology, research and development, student exchanges, and tourism flows.
The Americas
United States: The India-US bilateral relations continue to witness progress in all key
areas of the strategic partnership, including security, defence, economic, energy, technology and
people-to-people contact. The assumption of office by the new President in 2017 imparted a
fresh momentum to bilateral engagements.
Indian Prime Minister paid an official visit to the US in 2017. The main outcomes reached
during the Summit included: further strengthening of counter-terrorism co-operation;
establishment of a new consultation mechanism on domestic and international terrorist
designations proposals; designation of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin as a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist: firm message to Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not
used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries; etc.
Post-Prime Minister’s visit, there were a series of exchanges at political and functional
levels in key areas of the strategic partnership including defence and security; counter-terrorism;
trade and economic issues; energy; people-to-people contacts; and consultations on regional and
international issues. Both countries have agreed to launch a new 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
involving foreign affairs and defence ministries to bring greater synergy in our strategic and
defence engagements.