India will sign five agreements, including a “Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement” and a "Working Holiday program", with Austria on Monday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced during his visit to Vienna.
New Delhi has signed migration and mobility agreements with the UK, Germany, France, Portugal, and Finland, and is in the process of negotiating similar pacts with other European countries. These agreements provide employment opportunities for Indians in these nations.
“We will try to make it easier for people (Indians) who want to work here, who want to come here for business, who want to come here as tourists, who want to come here as professionals. How do they come to Austria, how do they work in Austria, how is the treatment on more equal terms,” Jaishankar said, describing the “goal” of the migration and mobility pact.
According to the Indian minister, the "Working Holiday program" will allow students to work in Austria for a period of six months.
“It is for us [...] a novel experiment. If it works well in Austria, we would like to take it forward in other countries, not may in Europe of course, but other parts of the world,” the Indian foreign minister underlined.
India has been eager to finalize these agreements with European countries as a way to address the long-pending India-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement and to make it easier for Indian professionals to work in these countries.
On the other hand, European countries also view these agreements as a means of curtailing illegal immigration from India.
Before signing agreements with India, Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner blamed India and Tunisia for a new wave of migration in 2022.
According to the minister, a total of 15,000 Indians and 11,400 Tunisians applied for asylum between January and October this year, compared to the figures from the same period the previous year, during which 611 Indians and 328 Tunisians applied for asylum.
“We have seen a whole new phenomenon of asylum applications from people who have practically no chance of asylum,” Karner pointed out in the first week of December.
According to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, this is the first trip to Austria by an Indian Foreign Minister in 27 years, which highlights the importance of the visit.
During his trip, Jaishankar met with the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Sunday and will meet with the Director General of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, on Monday.
Austria, one of the wealthiest countries in the European Union, plays a significant role in India's relationship with Europe, particularly with countries in central and Eastern Europe. In 2021, India's exports to Austria were valued at $1.2 billion, while India's imports from Austria for the same year were $1.18 billion.