Indian and Austrian relations are on an unprecedented height since the historic visit by Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker to New Delhi and the signing of the landmark EU-India Free Trade Agreement in January 2026. Diplomatic SOCIETY spoke with India’s Ambassador to Austria, H.E. Shambhu S. Kumaran, about the new dimensions of diplomatic ties between both countries, the impact of ongoing instabilities in the Middle East on India and his personal impressions of Austria.
Since 2024, you are serving as India’s Ambassador to Austria, Permanent Representative of India to the UN Offices in Vienna as well as Governor for India on the IAEA Board of Governors. What are the main pillars of your work?
As India’s Ambassador in Vienna, my work is focused on further developing our long-standing and friendly bilateral ties with Austria. In addition to expanding political level and diplomatic dialogue, our economic and commercial partnership is witnessing all-round growth. Our two democracies also enjoy excellent people to people ties, with rising tourism as well strong cultural and educational linkages. It can be stated with confidence that our relations today are set on a very positive trajectory. I see my role in offering a platform to support engagement at an institutional level, and also to explore and establish new pathways for our people to work with each other.
In my role as Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Offices and other International Organisations in Vienna, my efforts are aimed at maintaining the substance and momentum of India’s multilateral engagement. This covers key issues handled by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Office on Outer Space Affairs as well as UNIDO.
India is a founding member of the IAEA, and a country with a great level of interest in civil nuclear issues. There is thus understandably a particular focus on the Agency’s work. Several other frameworks of multilateral engagement, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Hague Code of Conduct as well as IACA also require my attention.
In my view, Vienna is a special and unique diplomatic posting, as it gives me an opportunity to pursue both, significant bilateral objectives with Austria and a substantive multilateral role.
From April 14 until April 17, 2026, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker made his first official visit to India, where he met President H.E. Smt. Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What were the main points that were discussed?
Chancellor Stocker’s visit was substantive, significant and successful. It was not just his first visit to India, it was also the first official visit by an Austrian Chancellor to India in over four decades. The visit helped us to maintain the momentum of our bilateral dialogue at the highest level, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Austria in July 2024, which had imparted new dynamism to the India-Austria partnership. Chancellor Stocker’s visit also opened new areas for our engagement like space as well as defence and security, including counter-terrorism and cyber security. Our trade and investment linkages were a key focus of the visit, which came shortly after India and the EU had concluded a historic Free Trade Agreement. The Chancellor was accompanied by the Minister for Economy and a high-level business delegation. I am confident that the visit will generate more business-to-business linkages and elevate our already sizeable commercial partnership to an even higher trajectory.
Another important area of discussion was our technology partnership. Austria has established strengths in advanced manufacturing, green technologies, infrastructure, railways, ropeways and clean energy. India has also emerged as a significant and technologically competent partner. Indeed, my country’s scale, talent, expanding market and manufacturing ambitions offer strong complementarities for a tech partnership with Austria.
Other outcomes include an Agreement on Audio-Visual co-production; a MoU on Food Safety and a Joint Letter of Intent on dual vocational training, skill development and recognition of vocational qualifications. Our leaders also discussed recent international and regional developments as well as multilateral cooperation. India and Austria both prioritize diplomacy and dialogue in our foreign policy. In that sense the visit was also about how India and Austria can work together in the current complex global environment.
Could you tell me a bit more about the India-EU Free Trade Agreement concluded on 27 January 2026, that you just mentioned? How does it affect, in your opinion, the trade relations between your country and the EU? What are the benefits of this agreement?
The conclusion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement is a major milestone in India’s economic engagement with Europe and of course with Austria as an EU member. India and the EU are among the world’s largest economic actors and democratic spaces. The agreement gives a stronger, more predictable and more ambitious framework to that relationship.
From India’s perspective, the FTA is important because it improves market access for Indian exports, creates opportunities for MSMEs, and strengthens India’s integration into global value chains.
For the EU, the agreement opens opportunities in the world’s fastest growing major market. EU goods exports to India are expected to double by 2032 and this will support European companies in areas such as advanced manufacturing, automobiles, green technologies, services and high-quality industrial products.
For Austria, the agreement is specifically useful. Austrian companies are strong in specialised engineering, clean technologies, rail and transport systems, industrial machinery, energy efficiency and high value manufacturing. These are the sectors in which India is investing heavily. There are already nearly 200 Austrian companies active in India. The FTA can support the creation of bigger and more structured India-Austria business partnerships within the wider India-EU framework.
The agreement is also strategic. The India-EU FTA will strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains, and support sustainable and inclusive growth. In today’s global environment, trusted economic partnerships are as important as market access.
How does the US-Israel war on Iran affect India, especially considering rising fuel prices and blows to the global economy? What is India’s stance on the casualties?
India, like the rest of the world, is affected by the ongoing instability in West Asia. The region is linked to India’s energy and food security, maritime trade, a large diaspora and wider economic interests. Any disruptions in energy supplies or threats to free maritime traffic and shipping routes have direct consequences for India as well as the global economy. India imports a large share of its energy requirements, so rising crude oil and fuel prices impact transport costs, manufacturing, household expenditure and overall economic growth. Millions of Indian nationals live and work in the Gulf region. Their safety and welfare remain a very high priority for the Government of India. India’s position has consistently been that issues must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, while it has maintained strong relations with all countries in the region. We have always emphasised restraint, de-escalation and stability.
On a more personal note, what are your impressions of Vienna and Austria? What do
you enjoy most?
Vienna is an absolutely wonderful city to live and work in. I have been impressed by how well the city is organised and also how it has managed to retain a deep and meaningful connection with its history, say in terms of architecture and music. I have quite a few Austrian friends and must say that I enjoy the easy vibe as well as the charm of the city and its people the most.