India-Sweden Relations Explained

India-Sweden relations are the bilateral political, economic and technological ties between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Sweden, built on seven decades of diplomatic contact and now centred on an innovation-led partnership in clean technology, industry, defence and trade. Sweden was among the first Western European countries to establish relations with independent India, and the two democracies share a preference for rules-based multilateralism, sustainable development and technology-driven growth.

The modern shape of India-Sweden relations was set by the 2018 India-Sweden Innovation Partnership, signed during a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Stockholm, and by the 2019 launch of the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), which the two governments co-founded. This explainer sets out how the relationship developed, what each pillar covers, which companies and sectors carry it, and where its limits lie. It was last reviewed on 17 October 2026.

Key Takeaways

• India and Sweden established diplomatic relations in 1948, making Sweden one of the earliest Western European partners of independent India.
• The India-Sweden Innovation Partnership of 2018 is the central framework of India-Sweden relations and links government, industry and research institutions.
• LeadIT, launched jointly by India and Sweden in 2019, brings governments and companies together to decarbonise heavy industries such as steel and cement.
• Swedish companies including Ericsson, IKEA, Volvo, SKF and Atlas Copco have operated in India for years, and many have manufacturing or engineering centres there.
• Saab has repeatedly offered the Gripen fighter to India, but no Gripen purchase has been finalised as of the latest public reporting.
• India-Sweden relations operate within wider frameworks, including India-Nordic summits and India’s trade and strategic engagement with the European Union.

How did India-Sweden relations begin and evolve?

India-Sweden relations began in 1948, when the two countries established diplomatic ties soon after India’s independence, and they developed through the Cold War on the basis of shared support for disarmament and the United Nations. Sweden followed a policy of military non-alignment in peacetime, which gave it a degree of political affinity with India’s own non-aligned foreign policy.

Cultural links are older than the diplomatic ones. Rabindranath Tagore received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 from the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, which made him the first Asian Nobel laureate in literature and gave Sweden a lasting place in Indian public memory. Swedish development assistance and technical cooperation also supported Indian projects in health, education and rural development during the early decades after independence.

Defence trade in the 1980s added a more complicated chapter. India bought Bofors 155 mm field howitzers from the Swedish company Bofors in 1986, and allegations about the contract became a major political controversy in India. The episode strained official contact for a period, and Swedish and Indian officials later rebuilt the relationship on a broader economic and technological footing.

From the 1990s, after India’s economic liberalisation, Swedish companies expanded their Indian operations, and the relationship gradually moved from a mainly trade-and-aid pattern to a partnership of equals. The visit of the Swedish royal couple, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, to India in December 2019 with a large business delegation confirmed that shift.

What is the India-Sweden Innovation Partnership?

The India-Sweden Innovation Partnership is a joint framework, agreed in April 2018 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Stockholm, that commits both governments to cooperate on innovation, sustainable growth and technology development. The agreement is usually described through its Joint Action Plan, which names priority areas and encourages collaboration among ministries, research bodies, start-ups and large companies.

The partnership covers several themes:

• Smart and sustainable cities: urban planning, public transport, waste management and clean air.
• Clean energy and environment: renewable power, energy efficiency, water and circular-economy practices.
• Digital and frontier technology: telecommunications, 5G, artificial intelligence, and start-up exchanges.
• Health and life sciences: medical technology, antimicrobial resistance research and pharmaceuticals.
• Transport and mobility: electric and low-emission vehicles, road safety and logistics.

The visit of April 2018 also coincided with the first India-Nordic Summit, which brought the Indian prime minister together with the prime ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. A second India-Nordic summit was held in Copenhagen in May 2022. These meetings place India-Sweden relations inside a wider Nordic cooperation pattern.

A virtual bilateral summit between the Indian and Swedish prime ministers followed in March 2021, and it reaffirmed the innovation agenda and added attention to cooperation on pandemic response, trade and climate.

What is LeadIT and why does it matter for India and Sweden?

The Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) is a voluntary initiative launched jointly by India and Sweden at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019, with the aim of moving heavy industry towards low-carbon pathways. It brings together national governments and private companies that agree to share technology, finance and policy experience on industrial decarbonisation.

Heavy industry matters because steel, cement, aluminium, chemicals and heavy transport together account for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions and are harder to decarbonise than electricity. Sweden has experience in fossil-free steelmaking research and green industrial projects in its north, while India is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing producers of steel and cement. The initiative therefore connects a technology leader with a high-growth industrial economy.

LeadIT operates through a secretariat that has been hosted by the Stockholm Environment Institute, and its membership has included several national governments and a growing group of companies from emerging and advanced economies. Because LeadIT is a coalition and not a treaty, it works through pledges, working groups and demonstration projects, not binding targets.

For India-Sweden relations, LeadIT is significant because it shows the two governments acting jointly in a global forum, not merely trading with one another.

How strong is trade and investment between India and Sweden?

Trade between India and Sweden is worth a few billion US dollars a year in goods and services by most published estimates, and it is balanced enough that both sides report meaningful exports. Exact figures vary by year and by whether services are included, so readers should consult current official trade statistics for precise values.

Investment has flowed in both directions. By commonly cited estimates, more than 200 Swedish companies have a presence in India, and many have set up manufacturing plants, research centres or global capability centres. Indian companies in Sweden are fewer, but they include information technology firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Tech Mahindra, along with automotive and pharmaceutical businesses.

India’s Production Linked Incentive schemes, its infrastructure programmes and its large consumer market give Swedish firms reasons to expand. Sweden offers Indian firms access to a highly skilled workforce, strong research universities and a base in the wider European market.

Which Swedish companies operate in India?

Swedish companies operating in India include Ericsson, IKEA, Volvo, Scania, SKF, Atlas Copco, Sandvik, Alfa Laval, Electrolux, H&M and Saab, spanning telecommunications, engineering, automotive, retail and defence. The table below lists some of the best-known examples and their general role in India.

These companies matter to India-Sweden relations because they create jobs, transfer technology and often act as informal diplomats. Swedish business bodies in India and Indian business chambers regularly organise delegations to strengthen contacts.

What defence cooperation exists between India and Sweden?

Defence cooperation between India and Sweden is mostly commercial and technological, consisting of past purchases of Swedish equipment, licensed production, and repeated Swedish offers of the Saab Gripen fighter. No formal military alliance exists between the two countries, and Sweden’s own security policy changed when it joined NATO in 2024.

Past and present defence links

• Bofors guns: India purchased Bofors 155 mm howitzers in 1986, and the guns later saw service in the 1999 Kargil conflict.
• Carl-Gustaf: The Indian armed forces use the Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifle family produced by Saab, and licensed production has taken place in India.
• Gripen offers: Saab offered the Gripen in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition that ended in the early 2010s, and it has offered newer Gripen variants in later Indian requirements, often with industrial partnership proposals under the Make in India framework.
• Industry partnerships: Saab has discussed manufacturing and technology-sharing arrangements with Indian firms as part of its bids.

As of the most recent public reporting, India has selected other suppliers for its large fighter purchases, so the Gripen remains an offer and not a contract. India’s defence procurement decisions weigh price, technology transfer, local production, interoperability with existing fleets and strategic considerations, and Sweden competes with American, French, Russian and European rivals.

The Bofors episode of the 1980s also left a lasting caution in Indian procurement politics, which is one reason that Indian defence acquisitions today emphasise transparency and government-to-government deals.

How do India and Sweden cooperate on clean technology and climate?

India and Sweden cooperate on clean technology through the Innovation Partnership, LeadIT, joint research programmes and company-level investments in renewable power, energy-efficient industry and low-emission transport. Both countries have set long-term climate ambitions, with Sweden targeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and India aiming for net zero by 2070 as announced at the 2021 Glasgow climate conference.

Specific areas of collaboration include:

• Industrial decarbonisation: hydrogen-based steelmaking, electrification of industrial heat and carbon capture research, supported through LeadIT.
• Renewable energy: Swedish utilities and investors have shown interest in Indian solar and wind markets, while Indian developers look at Nordic grid and storage expertise.
• Electric mobility: electric buses and trucks from Volvo and Scania, and battery and charging technology partnerships.
• Waste and water: waste-to-energy, wastewater treatment and clean-air technologies suited to Indian cities.
• Green finance: Swedish development finance institutions and pension funds have explored Indian climate-related investments.

The two countries differ in scale and development stage, so Indian officials stress climate justice and finance support, while Swedish officials emphasise ambition and technology. These differences are discussed in the open, and the Innovation Partnership gives both a practical project-level space where they can work together.

What role do science, education and people-to-people ties play?

Science, education and people-to-people ties provide the human foundation of India-Sweden relations, through university partnerships, research funding, student exchanges and a small but active Indian community in Sweden. Swedish universities and research institutes such as the Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Chalmers University of Technology have worked with Indian institutes on joint projects.

Several elements stand out:

• Swedish research agencies and Indian science departments co-fund projects in areas such as health, materials and sustainable energy.
• Indian students go to Sweden for engineering, design and life-science degrees, and Sweden has also welcomed Indian researchers and professionals in technology.
• Indian professionals form a notable part of Sweden’s information technology workforce.
• Cultural activities such as yoga, Bollywood film screenings and Indian festivals are well established in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
• Space cooperation has included contacts between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Swedish Space Corporation, which operates the Esrange facility in northern Sweden.

The population of Indian origin in Sweden is small compared with the diaspora in some other European countries, but it is relatively highly skilled and concentrated in technology, research and healthcare.

How does the European Union and Nordic context shape India-Sweden relations?

The European Union and Nordic frameworks shape India-Sweden relations because Sweden conducts trade policy through the EU and coordinates regional diplomacy with the other Nordic countries. Sweden joined the EU in 1995, which means that market access, tariffs and many regulations affecting Indian exports to Sweden are set at the EU level.

India and the European Union have worked for many years on a Free Trade Agreement and related investment and geographical indications agreements, and Sweden has generally supported a deal because it expects benefits for its exporters and investors. Readers should check current official sources for the status of those negotiations, because the details change as talks progress.

Sweden also took part in the first and second India-Nordic summits, and it supports closer EU-India engagement in the Indo-Pacific, connectivity, digital standards and supply-chain resilience. India values Sweden as a voice within the EU that is open to technology partnership and trade.

Both countries are active in the United Nations, and Sweden has been a consistent supporter of multilateralism. On the war in Ukraine, India and Sweden have taken different policy stances in some respects, with Sweden strongly critical of Russia and India favouring dialogue, but the difference has not prevented practical economic cooperation.

Timeline: key milestones in India-Sweden relations

What challenges and opportunities lie ahead for India-Sweden relations?

The main challenges for India-Sweden relations are the modest overall size of bilateral trade, differences over some foreign-policy questions, and the competitive nature of defence procurement, while the main opportunities lie in green industry, digital technology and the European market. Neither country is the other’s largest partner, so sustained attention from both governments and business communities is needed.

Opportunities

• Scaling LeadIT pilots into commercial projects in Indian steel, cement and transport.
• Deepening links between Swedish start-ups and Indian innovation hubs in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR.
• Using an India-EU trade agreement to lower barriers for goods and services.
• Expanding research and student mobility with clear visa and recognition arrangements.

Challenges

• Regulatory and tax issues that Swedish companies sometimes report in India, and EU standards that Indian exporters must meet.
• Competition from larger suppliers in defence and telecommunications.
• Different priorities on global security questions and on how fast developing economies should cut emissions.

Bottom Line

India-Sweden relations have grown from early diplomatic goodwill into a practical partnership based on innovation, industrial transition and business investment. The Innovation Partnership and LeadIT give the relationship a clear agenda, while defence and trade offer further room for growth if both sides keep sustained momentum.

Frequently Asked Questions

When were India-Sweden diplomatic relations established?

India and Sweden established diplomatic relations in 1948, soon after India became independent. Since then the two countries have kept regular political contact, and the relationship expanded greatly after India’s economic reforms in the 1990s.

What is the India-Sweden Innovation Partnership?

The India-Sweden Innovation Partnership is a 2018 joint framework agreed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Stockholm. It encourages cooperation on smart cities, clean energy, digital technology, health and mobility among governments, companies, start-ups and research institutions.

What is LeadIT and who founded it?

LeadIT, the Leadership Group for Industry Transition, is a coalition of governments and companies working to decarbonise heavy industry. India and Sweden launched it together at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September 2019.

Has India bought the Saab Gripen fighter jet?

No, India has not finalised a purchase of the Saab Gripen as of the latest public reporting. Saab has offered the Gripen in several Indian fighter competitions, often with local manufacturing and technology-sharing proposals, but India has chosen other aircraft so far.

Which Swedish companies are active in India?

Major Swedish companies in India include Ericsson, IKEA, Volvo, Scania, SKF, Atlas Copco, Sandvik, Alfa Laval, Electrolux and H&M. They work in telecommunications, retail, automotive, engineering and consumer goods, and many operate local manufacturing or technology centres.

How large is trade between India and Sweden?

Trade between India and Sweden is worth a few billion US dollars a year, according to commonly cited estimates. Swedish exports are mainly machinery and telecommunications equipment, while India exports garments, pharmaceuticals, machinery and technology services, and exact figures change every year.

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