Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen here and the two leaders discussed ways to further expand bilateral cooperation in several sectors, including environment and combating climate change.

"Had a very good meeting with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and discussed ways to expand India-Austria cooperation," Modi said in a post on X after the meeting.

They deliberated ways to strengthen India-Austria relations in a host of sectors, the prime minister's office said.

"The two leaders discussed bilateral and global issues. They also exchanged views on environmental sustainability, global warming and climate change action," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.

President Van der Bellen thanked Modi for visiting Austria, saying the two countries have a long friendship and strong bilateral relations, especially in the economic area. "We now want to expand these further," he said in a series of posts on X.

As the world's most populous country and a global economic power, India plays an important role in the fight against climate change.

"We need India as a partner in a structurally sustainable transformation towards climate neutrality," he said.

He said the two sides also talked about current geopolitical challenges, especially the Ukraine conflict and they agreed that they will support efforts in restoring peace.

Modi, who arrived here from Moscow after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday night on a two-day visit - the first by an Indian prime minister in over 40 years, earlier in the day met with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

"Had an excellent meeting with Chancellor @karlnehammer. This visit to Austria is very special because it is after several decades that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting this wonderful country. It is also the time when we are marking 75 years of the India-Austria friendship," Modi said in a series of posts on X.

"There are several shared principles that connect us such as democracy and rule of law. In the spirit of these shared values, Chancellor @karlnehammer and I agreed to further cement the India-Austria friendship across various sectors," he said.

"Stronger economic ties naturally featured in our talks but we do not want to limit our friendship to only this aspect. We see immense potential in areas like infra development, innovation, water resources, AI, climate change and more," he said in another post.

Modi also interacted with business leaders from the two countries and invited Austrian companies to invest in India in infrastructure, energy, emerging technologies and other sectors.

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