Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited Nordic companies to invest in the Blue Economy sector, including the Sagarmala project, and asked the sovereign wealth funds of the Nordic countries to invest in India.
As a part of the Sagarmala Programme, more than 800 projects at an estimated cost of around Rs 5.48 lakh crore have been identified for implementation. Sagarmala projects include projects from various categories such as modernisation of existing ports and terminals, new ports, terminals, inland waterways, lighthouse tourism, skill development, etc.
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PM Modi made this pitch at the 2nd India-Nordic Summit. This summit saw the participation of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir of Iceland, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store of Norway, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden, and Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland.
PM Modi and his counterparts from Nordic countries agreed to work together to fight and address climate change and protect the natural environment in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
The Summit provided an opportunity to review the progress of the India-Nordic relations since the 1st India-Nordic Summit, which was held in 2018 in Stockholm.
“Discussions were held on multilateral cooperation in post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, sustainable development, innovation, digitalization, and green and clean growth. Discussions were also held on cooperation in the maritime sector with a focus on sustainable ocean management. Prime Minister invited Nordic companies for investing in the Blue Economy sector, especially in India’s Sagarmala project,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.
The Prime Ministers agreed to work together to fight and address climate change and to protect the natural environment in accordance with the Paris Agreement, according to a joint statement.
The Summit noted that the acceleration of the global green transition to combat climate change is one of the greatest and most imminent global challenges.
“At the same time, a successful transition to a sustainable economy offers huge opportunities including new jobs. The need for setting ambitious goals for reducing emissions and concrete implementation plans was underlined, which will facilitate business actors’ contribution to accelerating the transition,” the JOINT statement read.
The Prime Ministers welcomed the international agreement at COP26 on the need for accelerated climate action for holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial level.
According to the statement, India and the Nordic countries are committed to ambitious cooperation on renewable energy, energy diversification, smart grids, and energy efficiency.
The leaders furthermore discussed collaboration on environmental sustainability including clean water, clean air, and a circular economy, which is critically important, not only to maintain and support biodiversity, water, and wildlife, but also as a basis for food security, and human health, and prosperity.
The statement said that India and Nordic countries are also committed to adopting the ambitious Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in the upcoming 2nd Part of COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held at Kunming, China, and work together in its implementation.
The Prime Ministers agreed that the blue economy can deliver economic growth, new jobs, improved nutrition, and increased food security if managed sustainably.
“As leading ocean nations, India and the Nordic countries agreed on the benefits of partnering on transforming the shipping industry towards a low carbon future through an exchange of good practices and technology transfers,” the statement read.
