Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Christian Stocker on being sworn in as the Federal Chancellor of Austria.

PM Modi said he looks forward to working with him to take mutually beneficial cooperation to unprecedented heights. 

Formation of Austria’s new govt

• Austria is a democratic republic with a bicameral Parliament. The 183-member National Council (Nationalrat) is elected directly by the people. 

• The 60 members of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) are delegated by the provincial parliaments. The number of members of the Federal Council changes as population shifts occur in the federal provinces. 

• The Austrian Federal President is elected by popular vote by universal, equal, direct, secret and personal election for a term of six years.

• The Head of State is the President. The Head of Government is the Federal Chancellor.

• Austria’s new government took office on March 3, with Christian Stocker taking over as Chancellor at the head of a three-party coalition after a five-month wait for a new administration.

• This is the country’s first three-party government, bringing together Stocker’s conservative Austrian People’s Party, the centre-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos.

• The alliance in the political centre came together only at the second attempt after the far-right Freedom Party emerged as the strongest political force in a parliamentary election on September 29.

• A first attempt collapsed in early January, prompting the resignation of then-Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

• Stocker took over from Nehammer as leader of the People’s Party and went into negotiations with Kickl on a possible coalition, but those collapsed on February 12 amid mutual finger-pointing.

• The three parties in the centre then renewed their effort to find common ground, heading off the possibility of an early election.

• The new government will have to deal with rising unemployment, a recession and a creaking budget.

India-Austria Relations

• The Indo-Austrian cultural relations have a long tradition dating back to the 16th century when Balthasar Springer traveled from Tyrol in 1505 to India along with the third Portuguese fleet. 

• The Austrian tradition of Indology began in a period renowned for its distinguished philologist and archaeologist between 1825-1920. The teaching of Sanskrit at Vienna University started in 1845 and a high point was reached in 1880 with the foundation of an independent chair for Indology. 

• Following a brief interruption between 1938-1955, the Chair became an independent department, now known as Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at University of Vienna.

• The visit of India’s Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore twice to Vienna – in 1921 and 1926 was one of the crucial bridges of cultural and intellectual exchange between India and Austria. Tagore’s famous lecture in 1921 ‘The religion of the forest’, portrayed the value of getting closer to nature and learning union and compassion. 

• Diplomatic relations between India and Austria were established in November 1949.

• Several bilateral agreements/MoUs have been signed with Austria both at inter-government level as well as between institutions, providing the framework for wide-ranging cooperation. 

• Austria, a member of the European Union since 1995 is an important link for India in its relationship with Europe, especially with countries of central and Eastern Europe. 

• There has been cooperation in the fields of steel, manufacturing technology, railway and transport, renewables, equipment, metallurgy through a large number of collaborations, technology transfers and joint ventures.

• Total bilateral trade for 2023 was $2.93 billion. Indian exports to Austria was $1.52 billion and imports were $1.41 billion.

• Indian exports to Austria: electronic goods, apparels, textile, footwear, rubber articles, vehicles & railways parts, electrical machinery and mechanical appliances.

• India’s imports from Austria: machinery, mechanical appliances, railway parts, iron and steel.

• To foster innovation and entrepreneurship between the countries, India-Austria Startup Bridge was launched in February 2024. 

• There are an estimated over 31,000 Indians living in Austria. They are roughly evenly divided between NRIs and PIOs. There are over 450 Indian students pursuing their higher education in Austria.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store