PM Narendra Modi will travel to Oslo on May 15-16 for the 3rd India-Nordic summit, official sources said. He will be joined by his counterparts from all 5 Nordic countries – Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland – for the summit that will focus on enhancing cooperation in trade, innovation, green transition, climate change, blue economy and addressing issues related to international peace and security, including the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ahead of the summit, Modi spoke to the Denmark PM, Mette Frederiksen, and discussed bilateral and global issues.
“Recalling high-level exchanges between both countries ever since the launch of the Green Strategic Partnership in 2020, the leaders noted the expansion of the Green Strategic Partnership in various fields which have created favourable conditions for Danish investments in India to contribute to green transition. The leaders also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest,” said the Indian government in a statement.
India has been looking to attract more investments from the sovereign wealth funds of the Nordic countries, which are also acknowledged global innovation leaders. The first summit in Sweden in 2018 had seen the Nordic countries strongly backing India’s membership bid for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and also its candidature for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. While backing a rules-based international order, both India and Nordic countries have been seeking more inclusive, transparent, and accountable multilateral institutions that can address global challenges more effectively. Both sides are also looking for opportunities to enhance cooperation in the Arctic on polar research, and climate issues.
The Nordic countries, however, have serious concerns about Russia’s continued aggression and, not surprisingly, Modi joined the leaders at the last summit in Denmark in expressing serious concern about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and unequivocally condemning civilian deaths in the country. They had then discussed the “destabilising effect of the conflict in Ukraine and its broader regional and global implications”. agreeing to remain closely engaged on the issue.
On his way back, Modi is also likely to visit Croatia, an EU country no Indian PM has visited so far. S Jaishankar, in fact, became the first Indian foreign minister to visit Croatia in 2021. During his visit, India and Croatia had signed an MoU for defence cooperation.
