Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met with the heads of the governments of various Nordic countries on the sidelines of the India-Nordic Summit in Sweden.
A series of bilateral pacts were inked during the meetings, strengthening and deepening the relationship between India and the European nations.
The Indian Prime Minister met with his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen during which the two leaders agreed to enhance and renew the cooperation between India and Denmark.
The two countries exchanged documents in areas of animal husbandry, dairying and urban development in the presence of the Prime Ministers.
In his meeting with Prime Minister of Finland, Juha Sipilä, PM Modi discussed ways to increase cooperation in trade and investment, renewable energy, space, waste management, start-up creation and education.
Around 100 Finnish companies have operations in India and investments in areas of textiles, road transport, information security, nuclear and radiation safety, trade, etc.
PM Modi urged Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir, to choose India as an investment destination in blue economy and geothermal energy for Icelandic companies. He also spoke about strengthening cooperation in education, tourism and culture.
He also met Erna Solberg, the Prime Minister of Norway, and discussed the areas of cooperation in trade and investment, shipping and port-development, blue economy, renewable energy, health, IT and green transport solutions.
Before the one-to-one meetings with the Nordic leaders, the PM interacted with Swedish CEOs at the City Hall in Stockholm. PM Modi exhorted the business leaders to participate in India’s flagship initiatives and the Make in India campaign.
The meet was also attended by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven who had earlier hailed India as a “global power”.
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“No important global conversation, be it on climate change or sustainable development, is complete without the voice of India,” said Löfven during the joint press conference in Stockholm.
PM Modi, who embarked on his three-nation Europe tour on Monday, arrived in Sweden in the evening yesterday. He was received at the Stockholm airport by the Swedish Prime Minister.
Earlier today, PM Modi called on Swedish emperor Carl XVI Gustaf at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. He is set to hold discussions with some of the leading CEOs in Sweden for trade talks.
India and Sweden will on also co-host the first ever India-Nordic Summit, where, apart from Narendra Modi and Löfven, the Prime Ministers of the other four Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway will also be present.
Modi’s visit is the first by any Indian Prime Minister in the last 30 years. The last visit to Sweden was by Rajiv Gandhi in 1988.
The Indian Prime Minister will depart for London tonight after addressing the Indian community event at Stockholm University.
In UK, the PM will hold a bilateral summit with British Prime Minister Theresa May on 18 April. On April 19-20, he is scheduled to attend 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
On 20 April, the PM will fly to Germany where he will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.