advertisement
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on the third and final leg of his 3-day visit to Europe, landed in France's capital city of Paris on Wednesday, 4 May, and was later welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.
Modi was earlier also welcomed by the Indian community in France upon his arrival in Paris.
The prime minister had attended the second India-Nordic summit in Denmark's capital Copenhagen earlier on Wednesday.
Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, and Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen were in attendance at the summit along with Modi.
PM Modi with Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson.
PM Modi with Norway's PM Jonas Gahr Store.
PM Modi with Iceland's PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
PM Modi with Finland PM Sanna Marin.
"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," reads a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs.
On the sidelines of the meet on Wednesday, the Indian prime minister also held bilateral talks with his counterparts from countries including Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.
"The India-Nordic Summit gave a great platform to discuss ways to boost ties with the Nordic nations. The bilateral meetings with Nordic leaders were also productive. I look forward to working with them in various sectors aimed at furthering prosperity," PM Modi said on Twitter.
"The India-Nordic Summit will go a long way in boosting India’s ties with the region. Together, there is much that our nations can achieve and contribute to global prosperity and sustainable development," he stated.
"Had a wonderful meeting with Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson. We discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in key sectors like security, IT, research and innovation. Strong ties between our nations will benefit our people," PM Modi wrote in a tweet.
Speaking about his discussions with Norway PM Jonas Gahr Store, PM Modi said, "Our talks included furthering cooperation in sectors such as the blue economy, clean energy, space, healthcare and more. Norway is a key pillar of India’s recently announced Arctic Policy."
Further, Iceland PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir said, "India & Iceland have many opportunities on issues of climate cooperation & geothermal energy along with deepening cooperation in carbon binding & fisheries sector. We talked about culture & gender equality," news agency ANI reported.
She added, "Our country has unspoiled nature which's unique...We talked about Yoga as well, it's quite popular in Iceland. A lot of people practice it regularly."
"There is immense potential in expanding the India-Finland digital partnership, trade partnership and investment linkages. We also discussed ways to deepen cultural ties between our nations," PM Modi wrote in a tweet about his meeting with Finland PM Sanna Marin.
On Tuesday, Modi had held a bilateral meeting with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen, after the latter had taken the Indian PM on a house tour.
"India’s Green Strategic Partnership with Denmark is deeply valued. PM Frederiksen and I discussed how we can make this partnership even more effective. We also discussed cooperation in sectors such as renewable energy, ports, shipping, water management and more," Modi had tweeted after the discussions.
Prime Minister Modi had met the Queen of the Kingdom of Denmark, Margrethe II, and the Danish royal family at the historic Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen later on Tuesday.
PM Modi had also held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)