Christian Stocker, Federal Chancellor of Austria, is on a four-day official visit to India from April 14–17, 2026—his first trip to the country and also his first visit outside Europe since taking office.
During the visit, Stocker held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, focusing on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, green technology, and strategic sectors.
The two sides signed multiple agreements, including cooperation in food safety, counter-terrorism, and broader economic engagement, signalling a renewed push in India–Austria ties.
The visit is being seen as a milestone, marking the first visit by an Austrian Chancellor to India in over four decades and reflecting growing momentum in bilateral relations.
| Sl. No | MoU / Agreement/LoI | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agreement on Audiovisual Co production between India and Austria | The agreement will provide a framework for enhanced cooperation between the film industries of the two countries and facilitate joint film production, creative exchanges and greater cultural engagement. |
| 2 | Joint Announcement on setting up a Fast Track Mechanism for Indian and Austrian companies | The Fast Track mechanism will identify and solve problems faced by Indian and Austrian companies and investors in each other’s economies. The FAST- TRACK mechanism will also serve as a platform for discussing general suggestions from the point of view of investors regarding ease of doing business. |
| 3 | Letter of Intent on Cooperation in Military Matters | The LOI will provide an institutional framework for promoting cooperation in military matters, defence industrial and technology partnership, building on the momentum of the India-EU Defence and Security Partnership signed on 27 January 2026, as well as facilitate defence policy dialogue, training and capacity building. |
| 4 | Letter of Intent on Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism | The LoI will advance counter terrorism cooperation between India and Austria including the goal of both sides to work together to establish a Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism for exploring areas of strategic cooperation on issues relating to the fight against terrorism. |
| 5 | MoU on Food Safety between AGES, Austria and FSSAI, India | The MoU will promote cooperation in food safety standards, scientific exchange, capacity building and sharing of best practices in food regulation and risk assessment thereby promoting trade in agricultural and food products, while ensuring highest priority for safety standards. |
| 6 | Joint Letter of Intent regarding dual vocational training, skills development and the recognition of vocational qualifications | Joint Letter of Intent will help to expand exchanges and knowledge sharing in the fields of dual vocational training (apprenticeship) and skills development as well as the promotion of recognition of Indian vocational qualifications according to Austrian Standards. |
Announcements
| Sl. No | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Renewal of the MoU on technical cooperation in the road infrastructure sector.
(The MoU will help to strengthen technical cooperation in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), road safety, electronic toll collection and traffic management.) |
| 2 | Increased cooperation of startup ecosystems under India-Austria Startup Bridge.
(continued collaboration between the startups, unicorns, innovation ecosystems and venture capital networks of the two countries) |
| 3 | Launch of Institutional Cybersecurity Dialogue. |
| 4 | Partnership between India’s Centre for UN Peacekeeping and Austrian Armed Forces International Centre (AUTINT). |
| 5 | Agreement to jointly organise a bilateral space industry seminar in Vienna in Autumn 2026; included in the Joint Statement. |
| 6 | Operationalization of Working Holiday Programme. |
| 7 | High-technology cooperation as a central pillar of the Enhanced India–Austria partnership.
(Identification of several collaborative R&D projects including in the areas of material science and technology, quantum technology, wastewater treatment, machine learning, lasers, etc under the joint Committee of Science and Technology) |
| 8 | Launch a structured bilateral Dialogue on Cooperation in Education.
(Aimed at enhancing skills development, promote curricula development, facilitate the mutual recognition of qualifications, and support institutional collaboration in higher education and the development of vocational education and training systems.) |
| 9 | Focus India initiative of Austria’s leading technical Universities to systematically deepen educational cooperation and research cooperation with India.
(Launch by the three public technical universities in Austria (Technische Universität Wien, Technische Universität Graz und Montanuniversität Leoben) of a dedicated portal to facilitate admissions for Indian students to pursue engineering and technical masters programmes in Austria) |
India–Austria Relations Get Boost: Major Agreements And Outcomes From Austrian Chancellor Stocker’s India Visit added by Arun Kumar N on
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