India-Nordic Countries Bilateral Talk

News: Recently, the Prime Minister of India held a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from  Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.

Background: 
• Besides economy, trade and investment, the summit can be seen from the perspective of the concept of the  welfare state that goes along with capitalism and democratic practices, blending the welfare model with the  market economy.
• India invited Nordic companies for investing in the blue economy sector, especially in Sagarmala Project.
• India’s Arctic Policy provides a good framework for expansion of India-Nordic cooperation in the Arctic region.
• The Nordic countries reiterated their support for India’s permanent membership of a reformed and  expanded United Nation Security Council.
• The first summit sought to explore an extension of the application to New Delhi's flagship programmes like Make in India, Startup India, Digital India and Clean India, besides the support of the Nordic CountriesSustainable Cities Project to India's Smart Cities project.
• At the first summit, the Nordic countries welcomed India's application for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.

Highlights:

• India-Norway - 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.


• India-Sweden – Emphasis was  given on the need to expand scope  of the jointly launched Leadership  group on Industry Transition  (LeadIT) initiative. It was a global  initiative launched by the 2 nations  at UN Climate Action Summit to  help guide the world’s heaviest  greenhouse gas emitting industries  toward a low-carbon economy.


• India-Finland – Discussions were made to cooperate in emerging fields of Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, future mobile technologies, smart grids. 


• India-Denmark – Discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest to boost bilateral relations, including the war in Ukraine, the India-European  Union (EU) free trade deal and the situation in the Indo-Pacific. Agreed to further strengthen the Green Strategic Partnership with a focus on green hydrogen, renewable  energy and wastewater management.


• India-Iceland - Both leaders discussed ways to further strengthen economic cooperation especially in the  sectors of geothermal energy, Blue Economy, Arctic, renewable energy, fisheries, food processing,  education including digital universities, and culture. Discussions also took place on expediting the IndiaEuropean Free Trade Association (EFTA) trade negotiations