INDIA-AUSTRIA RELATIONS

Diplomatic relations between India and Austria were established in 1949. Traditionally India-Austria relations have been warm and trouble free. There has been a regular exchange of high level visits between the two countries. Prime Minister Nehru visited Austria in 1955; Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in October 1971 and June 1983. Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky visited India in June 1980 and Chancellor Fred Sinowatz in March, 1984. The first ever Presidential visit from India took place from November 7-10, 1999, when Rashtrapatiji Shri K.R. Narayanan visited Austria. This visit also coincided with the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations.

The return visit by the Austrian President took place recently when President Heinz Fischer paid a six day state visit to India from 16-21 February 2005. He was accompanied by Madame Margit Fischer, the Federal Minister of Economics and Labour Dr Martin Bartenstein, the Governors of the provinces of Tyrol and Salzburg, a business delegation of over 100 persons led by the President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Mr Christoph Leitl. During the visit the Austrian President met Rashtrapatiji, held delegation level talks with Prime Minister, had meetings with Raksha Mantri, EAM, leader of opposition and separate meetings with Indian Ministers for Power, Commerce & Industry, Science & technology and Finance. The large number of businessmen accompanying the President emphasized the strong economic content of the Presidential visit, which included a special address by the Austrian President at ‘India-Austria : Partners in Progress', an event organized jointly be FICCI and CII in Delhi. The engagements in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore and Mumbai also had a strong economic and commercial emphasis. Power, environment, health infrastructure and biotechnology were identified by both countries as areas of priority for strengthening cooperation. It was also decided to intensify bilateral cooperation by concluding an agreement on cooperation in the field of S&T. A Joint Statement highlighting the importance of the visit was issued on Feb 21, 2005.

Indian Minister for Power Mr. Suresh Prabhu met with the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour Dr. Martin Bartenstein during the former's visit to Austria in May 2001. Mr. Karl Heinz Grasser, Federal Minister of Finance, Austria visited India from May 5-8, 2002.  During the visit, he met with the Union Finance Minister, Minister for Power and Governor of RBI. He participated in a seminar on "EU at the beginning of the 21st Century" organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Mr. Braja Kishore Tripathy, MOS for Steel visited Austria in Nov 2002. He held discussions with Dr. Bartenstein, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour. Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj visited Vienna in September 2004 to participate in the OPEC International Seminar on ‘Petroleum in an Interdependent World'. He also held discussions with Dr. Bartenstein during the visit.

Since the year 2000, regular Foreign Office Consultations have been taking place.

Bilateral trade was worth EUR 517 million in 2004. There have been over 200 business collaborations (including over 100 technological collaborations and over 50 involving financial participation) between the two countries. Important areas for bilateral cooperation are in the railways and hydropower sector.

Bilateral economic and commercial cooperation is institutionalised in the form of the Indo-Austrian Joint Economic Commission that meets regularly to discuss ways of enhancing bilateral commercial linkages. The 10th meeting of the Joint Commission was held in January 2005 in Vienna. An MOU on cooperation between FICCI and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber is in existence since October, 2003. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has opened an office in Vienna in 2001.

Bilateral Agreements: 

- Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) – (signed in Nov 2000 during the visit of Rashtrapatiji to Austria)

- Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) – (signed in Nov 2000 during the visit of Rashtrapatiji to Austria)

- Air Services Agreement – Air Services Agreement was signed in 1989 and a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 1997. Direct air services between India and Austria commenced in October 1997 with Austrian Airlines now flying nine times a week to Delhi from Vienna and poised to expand services to Mumbai from September 2005.

- Agreement on Bilateral Economic Relations and Cooperation : (signed in 1999 during the visit of Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs Mr. Fahrenleitner to India)

- MoU on Cooperation in the field of Environment : (signed in 1994)

- Agreement on Infrastructure Cooperation in Health Sector : (signed during the visit of President Fischer to India in February 2005)

- MoU between the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and the Medical University of Innsbruck : (signed during the visit of President Fischer to India in February 2005)

A Joint Working Group on Infrastructure Cooperation in railways was set up in 2002. A Joint Working Group on Cooperation in the field of Energy and Power sector was established in 2001.

Visas: Tourist, student, business and official visas are issued. Details are available on the embassy's website www.indianembassy.at

Chair on South Asia studies: In 1845, Sanskrit began to be taught at the University of Vienna. A chair for Sanskrit studies was established which was later converted into a chair for Indology. In 1955 it transformed itself into a separate Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies whose main focus is Indology.

Culture : Although there is no formal Cultural Exchange Programme between India and Austria, artistes of both countries have been performing regularly in each other's country. Some recent events include – Odissi dance recital by Rashmi Ranjan Jena & troupe (2003), Kuchipudi dance by Raja & Radha Reddy (2002), performances by Vienna Boys Choir and Vienna Philharmonic in India in 2003-2004.

There is an active Austria-India Association (founded in 1963). The 40th anniversary of the Association was celebrated in Nov 2003.

Indian Community: There are an estimated over 15,000 Indians (majority from Kerala) living in Austria – working primarily in the Health Care and business sectors.

Air Links: Austrian Airlines runs a code shared flight (with Air India) on the Vienna-Delhi sector. It is scheduled to begin direct services to Mumbai from September 2005