NEW DELHI, Sept 6: Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel will undertake a three-day official visit to India from September 7 to 9, with bilateral discussions with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and engagements in New Delhi and Chennai.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Bettel will arrive in the national capital on Monday and meet Jaishankar at Hyderabad House later in the day. The talks are expected to provide an opportunity to review bilateral relations and explore avenues for expanding cooperation between India and Luxembourg.
Bettel will travel to Chennai on Tuesday for a series of engagements focused on education, research and technology. His programme includes a visit to the IIT Madras campus and the IIT Madras Research Park.
He is also scheduled to visit and inaugurate a new campus of SES, the Luxembourg-based satellite and communications company, during his Chennai visit.
The Luxembourg deputy prime minister is scheduled to leave India in the early hours of Wednesday, concluding his three-day programme.
The visit comes after Jaishankar’s meeting with Bettel in Luxembourg earlier this year, when the two sides discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in emerging and strategic sectors.
During their meeting, Jaishankar identified FinTech, space, digital technologies and artificial intelligence as areas offering significant potential for deeper collaboration.
Jaishankar had also underlined the importance of Luxembourg as a partner for India, both bilaterally and in the broader India-European Union relationship. He noted that the two countries had maintained diplomatic ties for 78 years and had made considerable progress in strengthening their engagement.
While India and Luxembourg already share a strong trade relationship, Jaishankar said there was considerable scope to expand cooperation in new and technology-driven fields.
The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1948 and have since maintained cordial ties based on mutual understanding and cooperation at bilateral and multilateral forums.
Luxembourg opened its embassy in New Delhi in February 2002. The country also has honorary consuls in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
Bettel’s upcoming visit is expected to further strengthen bilateral engagement, with his discussions with Jaishankar in New Delhi and his technology- and education-focused programme in Chennai forming the key components of the visit.