During Switzerland visit, Jaishankar shares India’s approach to multilateralism, discusses ways to promote traditional medicine

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, concluded his two-day visit to Switzerland, during which he interacted with several top dignitaries and shared India’s approach to multilateralism, human rights and discussed ways to promote traditional medicine systems globally.

During his visit, the Foreign Minister interacted with the leadership of International Organisations in Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, and the Director General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“He shared India’s approach to multilateralism, our perspectives on the evolution of human rights, current global human rights situation, and ways to address various challenges to the human rights ecosystem. He also discussed ways to deepen cooperation in public health and promote traditional medicine systems globally,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Jaishankar dedicated the newly built state-of-the-art Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, which houses Indian Missions dealing with the UN and other International organisations, Conference on Disarmament, World Trade Organisation, and the Consulate General of India.

He also dedicated a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar at the Permanent Mission, and named a hall in memory of Hansa Mehta, who played a key role in promoting gender equality during the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He also planted a tree under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative, the release stated.

Jaishankar further interacted with a large gathering of the Indian community and Friends of India at the Permanent Mission, where he highlighted rapid strides made by India and India’s vision of engaging with the world.

A talk on ‘Global Tectonics: The Indian View of a World in Churn’ was delivered by the Foreign Minister at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), which was attended by a cross section of people in Geneva, including from the diplomatic community, academia, think tanks, student community and the Indian diaspora.

In a special gesture, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis hosted the External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in Geneva.

The two leaders held wide ranging discussions on bilateral ties, with special focus on leveraging the Free Trade Agreement between India and EFTA States (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Principality of Liechtenstein) to boost trade and investments. The leaders also discussed global and regional issues of mutual interest, the release added.