New Delhi, Nov 10: Describing India as an "important country", Swiss President Pascal Couchepin today said his country is keen to have "brain exchanges" between the two countries and not a "brain drain".
"Instead of doing brain drain as other countries are trying to do, we do not want that. We want to have a brain exchange programme," Swiss President Pascal Couchepin said here today. Talking to reporters after ceremonial reception on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here, he said "India is an important country and we have to take this into account in all negotiations including the WTO. It is therefore very important that we know what is happening in India and what the leaders of this country think and also what we can do to make this world better."

Couchepin, who was received by President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, besides senior officials and diplomats, said "we know the huge potential of India and what it has accomplished in the field of research and technology." The Swiss leader heads a delegation, which includes his cabinet members, on a week's visit to the country. Bureau Report