Article Posted on : - Jun 07, 2016

NEW DELHI (PTI): Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha is embarking on a five-day visit to Sweden, starting Tuesday, to take the existing defence cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries to the next level.

During his stay at Sweden, from June 7 to 11, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) will be calling on the Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist and is scheduled to hold bilateral discussion with the Supreme Commander of Swedish Armed Forces and the Chiefs of Staff of Army, Navy and Air Force.

The challenges faced by the Defence Forces of both the countries in the current world scenario is expected to be discussed during these meetings.

The CAS will also be visiting a flying base of the Swedish Air Force and the production facilities of Swedish aerospace and defence company SAAB at Linkoping where the Gripen fighter aircraft are manufactured.

The visit assumes greater significance as it is taking place after the Swedish PM Stefan Lofven's February 2016 visit to India to attend the Def Expo-2016 held at Goa.

The Prime Ministers of both India and Sweden had also identified defence as one of the key areas of cooperation between the two countries during the visit.