New Delhi, January 1
In his first diplomatic engagement this year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday held talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg, followed by a meeting with Bulgarian President Rumen Georgiev Radev in Vienna and discussed bolstering cooperation, nearshoring and building resilient supply chains.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Vienna from Cyprus, also met Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer before attending the country’s renowned New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Delighted to see my good friend Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna. My first diplomatic engagement in 2023. Thank him for inviting us to join the traditional New Year’s Concert,” Jaishankar tweeted. “A good meeting in Vienna with President Rumen Georgiev Radev of Bulgaria. Discussed strengthening our cooperation in the context of Make in India, nearshoring and building resilient supply chains,” he said in another tweet.
A crucial engagement for Jaishankar will be a meeting with DG of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi. He is also scheduled to discuss regional and global issues with the Foreign Ministers of Czech (Jan Lipavsky), Slovak (Rastislav Kacer) and Austria (Alexander Schallenberg) in the Slavkov format. He will also interact with the Indian community living in Austria.
The MEA had earlier noted that this would be first EAM’s visit to Austria in 27 years.
On Thursday, Jaishankar had met his Cyprus counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides in Nicosia and had signed a MoU on Defence and Military Cooperation. The two sides also inked the letter of intent on the Migration and Mobility Partnership.