An old friendship renews itself through an ambitious pact

The TEPA, but also the Migration and Mobility Partnership and the Young Professional Agreement to be signed are simply today’s answer to a promise made almost 80 years ago.

4 min readOct 5, 2026 06:12 AM IST First published on: Oct 5, 2026 at 06:12 AM IST

The last time I wrote for this newspaper was in February, when I arrived in Delhi for the AI Impact Summit. Eight months and one G7 meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later, I am back in Delhi. This time, I am here to mark a significant anniversary: The first anniversary of the entry into force of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between the EFTA states and India. I am returning as a guest of the Republic of India on a state visit, demonstrating how what began as a trade negotiation has evolved into a partnership between two economies and a friendship between two democracies.

Anniversaries invite summaries. I would rather treat this one as a checkpoint. What TEPA has delivered is not just a headline but something more durable: Tariff lines that have actually moved, and firms making decisions on the strength of it.

Switzerland is bringing precision machinery, pharmaceuticals, MedTech and specialty chemicals to this agreement — the kind of intermediate goods and technical capability that will feed into Indian manufacturing rather than compete with it. It is too early to declare results after a year, but the direction is clear. Tariff schedules and procedures do not change behaviour by themselves; they only do so when companies decide that the change is substantial enough to plan around. From our conversations with Swiss businesses, we can see that they are in the early stages of making this calculation.

The figure that will matter more than any other over the next decade and a half is the $100 billion investment and job-creation goal tied to TEPA — the first time an Indian trade agreement has linked market access to a concrete investment goal rather than tariff schedules alone. Beyond this is a broader ambition: To deepen economic ties, encourage long-term investment, create opportunities for employment and strengthen cooperation between companies, institutions and people. The essential work of building institutions is well underway. A dedicated Desk has been set up to support EFTA companies with a smooth, informed, and confident investment experience.

This is a partnership in which both sides gain. India gains capital, technology, and easier access to a market for high-value goods. Switzerland gains something we need just as much: A large, fast-growing trading partner at a moment when global trade is more fragile and unpredictable than it was even a year ago. Diversification is a strategic priority.

One more point deserves emphasis because it distinguishes TEPA from an older generation of trade deals. The TEPA carries meaningful provisions on labour standards, environmental protection and responsible business conduct. They reflect commitments that India and the EFTA states made together, and they show what a modern trade agreement can achieve.

Alongside the trade and economic relations between our countries, there is a broader relationship: Scientific and research cooperation that go back decades, a steady flow of Indian students and professionals through Swiss universities and technical institutes, growing numbers of Indian visitors to the Alps, and Swiss tourists drawn to India. There is also a substantial diplomatic relationship that has produced a dense web of bilateral agreements on science and technology, aviation, taxation, and education over the decades. None of this is reflected in the trade balance, yet it arguably makes the trade balance possible, a level of familiarity and trust between our two societies that has been quietly built up over many years, visit by visit and exchange by exchange, long before anyone thought to call it a partnership.

In 2028, Switzerland and India will mark 80 years since signing their Treaty of Friendship, a document that promised “perpetual peace” and “unalterable friendship”. Those are large words for any two nations to live up to. But I think we have. Each era renewed it in the terms available to it. Scientific exchange in one decade, student visas in another, now a trade agreement with a $100-billion ambition attached to it. The TEPA, but also the Migration and Mobility Partnership and the Young Professional Agreement to be signed are simply today’s answer to a promise made almost 80 years ago: A practical framework that can deepen our friendship through mutual support and a shared interest in sustainable growth, prosperity, and long-term success.