India-Nordic nations collaborate in technology, sustainability & climate change
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Denmark puts the spotlight back on the Nordic countries, who often rank as the happiest countries topping the human development indices. Nordic countries include Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. In the recent happiness race, Finland stood on the top for the fifth year in a row, closely followed by Denmark. Here, it becomes interesting to know what makes them the happiest countries and in what way both sides can expand their collaboration and mutually benefit from that.
It is worth mentioning that the Nordic countries also represent the most advanced economies of Europe, however, the potential of expanding India’s ties with them has been largely uncultivated. In recent years, with India emerging as an economic powerhouse with strong democratic credentials and well appreciated by the world, expanding relations with India are seen by Nordic countries as natural and important. These countries being pioneers in technologies, can help us master expertise in these segments. They can also benefit a lot from India as it represents one of the fastest-growing economies with vast untapped market for the Nordic countries.
In the backdrop of all these, the first India-Nordic Summit had taken place in 2018, which provided a perfect platform to come together and realise the full potential of the partnership. Now, the second India-Nordic Summit with Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway acquires greater importance, where India discusses a whole host of cooperation. The agenda of the summit includes subjects like post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, sustainability, digitization, technology, renewable energy, global security scenario and India-Nordic cooperation in the Arctic region.
The leaders of Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway also review the progress in their bilateral relations with India on the side-lines of the Summit. PM Modi in his departure statement ahead of his visit to Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris said, ‘Nordic countries are important partners for India in sustainability, renewable energy, digitisation and innovation. The visit will help in expanding our multifaceted cooperation with the Nordic region.’
