PM to attend 2nd India-Nordic Summit, meet Macron in Paris

New Delhi, May 4 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday will participate in the 2nd India-Nordic Summit being hosted by Denmark and later go to Paris and meet France President Emmanuel Macron on the final day of his three nation Europe tour. During the 2nd India-Nordic Summit, the PM will interact with other Nordic leaders – Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir of Iceland, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland. The Summit will focus on subjects like post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, innovation and technology, renewable energy, the evolving global security scenario and India-Nordic cooperation in the Arctic region, the Prime Minister said in his Departure Statement before the ongoing Europe tour. The 1st India-Nordic Summit took place in 2018 in Stockholm. The PM said that in the 2nd India-Nordic Summit he will take stock of cooperation since the First India-Nordic Summit in 2018 along with Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway. He said that he will review the progress in India’s bilateral relations with the leaders of Nordic countries on the side-lines of the Summit. Nordic countries are important partners for India in sustainability, renewable energy, digitisation and innovation, the PM added. On his return journey later in the day, the Prime Minister will briefly stop over in Paris and meet France President Emmanuel Macron. During my return journey, I will stopover in Paris to meet my friend, President Macron, the PM said. He said that his visit to France will reaffirm the close friendship between the two countries. The visit will give India and France the opportunity to set the tone of the next phase of the India-France Strategic Partnership. The PM said that his visit to France just ten days after President Macron’s reelection will allow him to convey personal congratulations in-person to Macron. This will also reaffirm the close friendship between the two countries, the PM added. “President Macron and I will share assessments on various regional and global issues and will take stock of ongoing bilateral cooperation. It is my firm belief that two countries that share such similar vision and values for the global order, must work in close cooperation with each other,” the PM said in his Departure Statement. India and France are celebrating 75 years of their diplomatic relations this year and the meeting between the two leaders will set a more ambitious agenda of the Strategic Partnership. In a press briefing, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said that the principal purpose of PM’s visit is for “India to continue to strengthen its multi-faceted relationship with the three countries.” UNI ASU MYK