When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Swiss President Guy Parmelin, the exchange of gifts said as much as the formal talks. Modi presented his host with a hand-carved Kashmiri walnut wood panel and three of India’s acclaimed cheeses: Gulmarg, Konark and Yeoor. The choice told a story of old craft and a young food industry.
A panel carved by hand
The centrepiece is the walnut wood panel, a product of one of India’s best-known artisan traditions. Kashmiri walnut wood carving has been practised for generations. Artisans work the dense, fine-grained wood by hand and cut elaborate patterns of vines, leaves, flowers and geometric lattice. A single piece can take weeks or even months of patient chisel work.
The wood is prized for its durability and its warm tones, which range from honey brown to deep chocolate. Kashmir is one of the few places in the world where walnut grows at such high altitudes. The craft is therefore tied to the region’s landscape as well as its history. By giving a panel carved by hand rather than a mass-produced souvenir, India offered something that reflects a living heritage and the skill of the families who sustain it.
Cheese for the home of cheese
The second part of the gift is the more surprising. Switzerland is globally synonymous with cheese, from Emmental and Gruyère to Appenzeller. Giving Swiss hosts Indian cheeses is a confident gesture, and it signals how far India’s artisanal dairy sector has come.
Gulmarg, Konark and Yeoor are described as acclaimed, a reflection of the recognition Indian cheesemakers have begun to earn. The country has long been among the world’s largest milk producers, but its cheese-making culture has stayed modest. Small producers are now experimenting with ageing, technique and local character, and the three cheeses stand for that growing tradition.
Kashmir takes centre stage
The gifts also carry a message about identity. The walnut panel comes from Kashmir. The Gulmarg cheese is named after one of Kashmir’s most famous meadows and ski destinations. Together they put the region at the heart of the cultural exchange and present it through its craftsmanship and its produce.
This fits a pattern in Modi’s diplomacy. He regularly picks gifts that showcase regional arts, such as Kashmiri carpets, papier-mâché pieces, Dokra metalwork and Madhubani paintings. Each gift is meant to carry a piece of India’s diversity to the recipient. The Swiss gifts follow that approach and add the new element of food.
Why it matters
India and Switzerland share long-standing economic and cultural ties. Switzerland is known for precision manufacturing and fine craftsmanship, and for a deep respect for tradition. A hand-carved panel speaks to that sensibility. The cheeses speak to it as well, since cheese-making in Switzerland is also a heritage craft passed down across generations.
Gifts like these work as quiet diplomacy. They do not carry the weight of a trade agreement or a joint statement, but they leave an impression and invite conversation. A Swiss president who tastes an Indian cheese or admires a Kashmiri carving gains a small, concrete sense of the country behind the delegation.
A tradition on display
The exchange links the timeless artistry of Kashmiri woodwork with India’s emerging cheese-making culture. One gift looks to centuries of craft and the other to the present. Between them they show a country that honours its heritage while building new industries.
