Finnish President Alexander Stubb landed in New Delhi on 4 March 2026 to start a four-day state visit aimed at upgrading India–Finland relations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed him with a guard of honour and said on X that the trip would take bilateral ties “to new heights”. The agenda includes meetings with President Droupadi Murmu and Modi, plus a keynote address at the Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship geo-political forum. Officials in Helsinki say the visit will focus on clean-tech investment, digital-skills visas and smoother short-term business travel between the two countries. Finland’s innovation-led companies—many already running R&D centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad—want faster multiple-entry visas for project engineers and a mutual recognition of professional qualifications in 5G and quantum computing. Indian negotiators are pushing for easier Schengen long-term visas for IT consultants and postgraduate students. A joint working group on mobility is expected to report before the end of 2026. Trade between the two countries hit €3 billion in 2025, up 14 % year-on-year. Diplomats believe streamlined mobility rules could unlock another €1 billion by 2028 as Finnish firms look for resilient supply chains and Indian start-ups court Nordic venture capital.
