Swiss envoy: Innovation will grow ties with India

Kolkata: The India-Switzerland bilateral relations will prosper with the cooperation in the field of innovation between the two countries. This was underlined by Swiss ambassador Ralf Heckner at an interactive session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce on Friday in the city during his visit to West Bengal.

He said, "There is one thing why I am convinced that our relations will only grow in importance. If you have a look at what is important today, that is innovation. Innovation is important for our business. If you want to be competitive in business then you have to be innovative and look for innovation, If you want to be a successful country, you have to be an innovative country."

Mr Heckner elaborated, "Innovation is also at the centre of geo political interactions. What you see in between the US and China for example, is a competition about innovation. India is part and parcel of that geopolitical power equation. If India wants to have innovation, all India has to do is to pay attention to relations India has with Switzerland. Switzerland has been ranked one of the most innovative countries in the world. But being an ambassador of Switzerland to India, what I have seen is there are huge pockets of innovation in India and those pockets."

He added, "75 years back, Switzerland had innovation. India had little innovation. Today we are in a position where Switzerland is looking to India as an inspiration for innovation. And because of the fact that innovation grows in importance, I am convinced that our bilateral relations will grow in importance with the cooperation in innovation."