COPENHAGEN, May 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store here and the two leaders took stock of the full range of bilateral relations, discussed ways to deepen developmental cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global developments.
Modi, who arrived here on Tuesday from Berlin on the second leg of his visit to three European nations, met Store on the sidelines of the second India-Nordic Summit in the Danish capital.
“Boosting friendship with Norway. Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @jonasgahrstore meet in Copenhagen. They are taking stock of the full range of bilateral relations between the two nations and ways to deepen developmental cooperation,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the assumption of office by Prime Minister Store in October 2021.
“Both Prime Ministers reviewed the ongoing activities in bilateral relations and discussed future areas of cooperation,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.
Discussions also took place on regional and global developments. As members of UN Security Council, India and Norway have been engaging with each other in the UN on global issues of mutual interest, the release said.
Modi’s visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis, which has united much of Europe against Russia.
“Prime Minister highlighted that Norway’s skills and India’s scope provided natural complementarities. Both leaders discussed the potential for deepening engagement in areas like Blue Economy, renewable energy, green hydrogen, solar and wind projects, green shipping, fisheries, water management, rainwater harvesting, space cooperation, long term Infrastructure investment, health and culture,” the release added.
Later, Modi would attend the 2nd India-Nordic Summit along with Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway where they will take stock of the cooperation since the First India-Nordic Summit in 2018.
“Today’s agenda includes the India-Nordic Summit and bilateral talks with Nordic leaders after which I will leave for Paris to hold talks with President @EmmanuelMacron,” Modi tweeted before starting his engagements for the day.
Briefing the media on Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had said that the India-Nordic summit focuses on the elements of bilateral cooperation which essentially fall into three to four major clusters – trade and investment ties; the digital and innovation partnership; the green partnership; and other areas of economic cooperation.
“Nordic countries are important partners for India in sustainability, renewable energy, digitisation and innovation. The visit will help in expanding our multifaceted cooperation with the Nordic region,” Modi had said earlier.
India’s trade with Nordic countries stands at over USD 5 billion (2020-21) and a cumulative FDI of over USD 3 billion (April 2000- March 2021). (PTI)
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