At India-Nordic Summit, Modi discusses multilateral cooperation in post-Covid recovery

New Delhi, May 4:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday participated in the second India-Nordic Summit in Denmark, where discussions were held on multilateral cooperation in post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, sustainable development, innovation, digitalisation, and green and clean growth.

The summit, with his counterparts Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Katrin Jakobsdottir (Iceland), Jonas Gahr Store (Norway), Magdalena Andersson (Sweden), and Sanna Marin of (Finland) 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 also held on cooperation in maritime sector with a focus on sustainable ocean management.

Modi invited Nordic companies for investing in the Blue Economy sector, especially in India's Sagarmala project. He also invited the sovereign wealth funds of the Nordic countries to invest in India.

India's partnership with the Nordic region in the Arctic region was discussed and he noted that India's Arctic Policy provides a good framework for expansion of India-Nordic cooperation in the region.

The leaders also held discussions on regional and global developments.

During the Summit, the Prime Ministers pledged to continue to deepen cooperation between the Nordic countries and India and focused their discussions on key issues related to international peace and security, including the conflict in Ukraine, multilateral cooperation, green transition and climate change, the blue economy, innovation and digitalisation.

The Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of free trade as a driver for achieving inclusive growth and realising the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Nordic Prime Ministers reiterated their strong condemnation of the unlawful and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine by Russia, and expressed their serious concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Unequivocally condemning civilian deaths in Ukraine, they reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

They emphasized that the contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states.

They discussed the destabilizing effect of the conflict in Ukraine and its broader regional and global implications. Both sides agreed to remain closely engaged on the issue.

The Prime Ministers affirmed their strong commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation. The leaders agreed that pressing challenges such as tackling climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, biodiversity loss and increasing food and energy insecurity across the world required international cooperation, a collective response and global solidarity.

India and the Nordic countries were committed to doing so and to working together in multilateral fora to promote international cooperation and promote human rights as well as equal opportunities for all people without prejudice