India and Sweden will strengthen collaboration in biotech and healthcare, such as pharmaceutical products and public health research.

During a delegation trip to New Dehli State Secretary of Ministry of Health and Social Affairs Karin Johansson signed the agreement with India’s Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, based on a memorandum of understanding from 2009.

"India and Sweden have decided to further their collaboration in the field of maternal and child health, adolescent health, public health and alcohol policy, medical and pharmaceutical products, public health research and infectious disease control," a health ministry official said, according to several Indian newspapers.

"The two countries also decided to collaborate in the field of alcohol abuse. India also flagged the issue of smokeless form of tobacco consumption, peculiar to India in the form of chewing tobacco and sought collaboration from Sweden in this area," the official said.

In the backdrop of the multi-drug resistant NDM-1 virus allegedly originating from India, the two sides also discussed the issues of anti-microbial resistance.

A Swedish Medical Technology Business Delegation arrives in India on November 28 and visited several organisations – chiefly hospitals – with the aim is to understand the expansion process of healthcare in India and present to them Swedish solutions through the participating companies that can be used in these expansions.