New Delhi [India], September 6 (ANI): Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Xavier Bettel will undertake a three-day official visit to India, during which he will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in the national capital.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday, during the visit from September 7 to September 9, the Deputy PM will also visit Chennai for engagements at IIT Madras and the inauguration of a new SES campus.
Bettel will arrive in the national capital on Monday and will meet the EAM at Hyderabad House later in the day.
On Tuesday, he will travel to Chennai, where he is scheduled to visit the IIT Madras campus and tour the IIT Madras Research Park and later visit and inaugurate a new SES campus.
Bettel will depart India in the early hours of Wednesday.
The visit follows Jaishankar's engagement with Bettel in Luxembourg earlier this year, where the two leaders discussed bilateral ties and areas for greater collaboration, including FinTech, space and Artificial Intelligence.
During that meeting, Jaishankar highlighted the longstanding relationship between India and Luxembourg.
"We now have 78 years of our relationship, and we've come a long way. For us, we really see Luxembourg as a very important partner in itself but also with the European Union," Jaishankar said.
The EAM also praised Bettel for his role in strengthening India-Luxembourg relations and supporting closer India-European Union ties.
"The influence you have in shaping that larger relationship, the support that you extend, that is something which is of great value to us, and I thank you because I know in many ways you've been very much an advocate of deepening the ties between India and the European Union," he added.
Referring to the scope for expanding bilateral cooperation, Jaishankar said the two countries already have a strong trade relationship but could further deepen collaboration in emerging areas.
"I think many of the interesting issues of our times – FinTech, space, the entire digital world, AI – these are all issues where I think we can elaborate much more productively than we've done," he said.
India and Luxembourg established diplomatic relations in 1948 and enjoy warm and friendly relations marked by mutual understanding and cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Luxembourg opened its Embassy in New Delhi in February 2002 and also has honorary consuls in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
Bettel's three-day visit will include engagements in both New Delhi and Chennai, with his meeting with Jaishankar scheduled on the first day of his India visit. (ANI)
Luxembourg Deputy PM Bettel to visit India, to meet EAM Jaishankar during stay
