The Hindu : Opinion / Interviews : “Switzerland is not just cheese and chocolates but hi-tech too”

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Tuesday, Nov 20, 2007
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Opinion - Interviews

“Switzerland is not just cheese and chocolates but hi-tech too”

Sandeep Dikshit

Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of the Swiss Confederation, on the decision of her country to stay out of the EU, money laundering, and the ties with India. Excerpts from an interview conducted during her November 5-8 visit to India:

” — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Micheline Calmy-Rey: “Switzerland does not want to go into the EU because I guess the people don’t want to lose their institutions and values.

How does Switzerland view the attempts by India to join the civil nuclear mainstream considering that it has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?

Switzerland is very much engaged against nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons and we are now on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board. It was a subject I raised in my discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has agreed to send an Indian nuclear expert to Switzerland to explain India’s position.

Switzerland is viewed as a hole in the European Union carpet. Is there any review of its position to stay away from the EU?

Switzerland is a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic nation and what links us together are our institutions such as democracy and stance such as neutrality. Switzerland does not want to go into the EU because I guess the people don’t want to lose their institutions and values. But we have over 100 bilateral agreements with the EU beginning with economic agreements and now extended to cooperation in police, culture, etc.

In India Switzerland is not only viewed as a land of cheese, chocolates, and pristine mountains but also a place where unscrupulous people stash their illegal wealth. How is Switzerland correcting the latter impression?

Switzerland has given itself the most stringent or severe laws against money laundering. We have no interest in having our country as a safe haven for illegal wealth. We have taken all measures and it is this country which has given back the money brought by the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. On our insistence, the World Bank signed an agreement with Nigeria to ensure the money goes back into education, health and infrastructure. The stash of the dictator amounted to one billion francs.

But India’s experience with commissions taken during the Bofors deal has been different. It had to spend a lot of energy in even getting to know the ownership of the Swiss accounts in which the commission money was kept.

We are always ready to cooperate. We have no interest in keeping dirty money.

How do you view the bilateral relationship with India?

We have had ties with India for 60 years and now it is on the way to becoming a big power so it is also facing global issues. India has also a big influence on the world community. So it is in our common interest to strengthen our bilateral ties.

Most of the relationship has been influenced in the last decade by developmental cooperation. Now we want to extend it to other fields. We want to have a privileged partnership in political, cultural, environmental issues and the fight against terrorism.

Did the subject of Myanmar come up in your discussions with the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister?

We discussed part of the problem in Myanmar. The position of Switzerland is that we encourage the Government of Myanmar not to use force against civilians and get into dialogue with the United Nations Envoy on Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari. We want them to follow all this because we are the land of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention.

And Pakistan? Would you like the U.S. to threaten to cut aid if there is no democracy?

In today’s world, some instability, even if it is far away, has an effect in terms of migration and commercial relations. We can’t be different and say the situation is of no concern to me. As for threatening to reduce aid, we have never done that but are following the situation with attention. We have suspended field visits because it is too dangerous.

How does Switzerland view the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Invading Iraq was not a decision of the U.N. Security Council. We apply the principle of neutrality [in this conflict]. So since 2003, we have forbidden military aircraft meant for Iraq to fly over our country. Earlier we had a liaison office in Baghdad and cooperative assistance in Iraq.

Since then the situation has become difficult and we have made little progress. In Afghanistan, we are cooperating in humanitarian aid but are not involved in strategic decisions.

With the population of Europe ageing, is Switzerland keen on attracting Indian professionals?

Switzerland’s migration policy is oriented towards the EU. We have an agreement [with the EU] for the free movement of persons and are negotiating to extend it to Bulgaria and Romania. In principle we encourage free movement of persons from the EU but out of 1.5 million foreigners in Switzerland, one million are from Europe and 0.5 million from other countries.

Is there potential to increase bilateral trade?

The potential is still to be developed as India is Switzerland’s fourth largest commercial partner in South Asia. We are waiting for the report on a free trade arrangement and discussions should begin before the end of the year. Switzerland is not only a country of cheese and chocolates but hi-tech too.

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“Switzerland is not just cheese and chocolates but hi-tech too”