New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen held a virtual summit on Monday to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
As the virtual summit began, Prime Minister Modi firstly thanked Frederiksen for taking out time for this interaction and also congratulated her on her wedding.
Prime Minister Modi mentioned that COVID-19 has shown that excess dependency of the global supply chain on a single source chain is risky.
“We are working with Japan and Australia towards supply –chain diversification and resilience. Other like-minded countries can join this effort”, he reiterated.
“PM Modi also stressed on the concept of ‘Circular economy’ that should be added and a time-bound action plan needs to be drawn up. India proposed setting up of India-Denmark Energy Park in areas where there is a large number of Danish companies. Prime Minister Modi also stressed on the idea of setting up of India-Denmark skill institute so that the Danish companies will be able to get skilled manpower as per their requirement”, Neetu Bhushan, Joint Secretary (Central Europe) MEA said while addressing a virtual media briefing.
Modi also recalled that the events of the past several months have made it clear how important it is for like-minded countries like India and Denmark, which share a rules-based, transparent, humanitarian and democratic value-system, to work together.
Meanwhile, Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen began her address by thanking PM Modi for his greetings and added that she and her family would love to visit India once again.
Also Read: Maldives-India cargo ferry will promote bilateral trade, boost economies: PM Modi
Frederiksen further said, “Today’s summit marks for Denmark a milestone on our bilateral relations and our forward-looking agreement on green strategic partnership. We are proud that India looks at Denmark when it comes to climate changes.”
“The green strategic partnership is the first of its kind agreement. It will help in expanding cooperation in renewable energy, environment, circular economy, water and waste management in reducing air pollution etc. Several sectors have been identified on which both sides will cooperate to increase the countries collaboration, joint ventures and technology transfer”, the MEA said during a press briefing.
It is to be noted that during the bilateral talk, the emphasis was laid on the COVID-19 crisis and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her appreciation for Prime Minister Modi’s leadership in the context of the pandemic. India also called for collaboration of like-minded countries which will help to meet the challenges of a pandemic.
India and Denmark have also agreed on 2nd India Nordic countries summit. The first such summit took place in 2018 in Stockholm. This is the 4th virtual meet of Indian PM due to the pandemic. He has already met the leaders of Australia, EU and Sri Lanka, the MEA further said.
The meeting lasted for about an hour and was the first-ever virtual summit that was held with any country in European Union bilaterally.
Both sides noted with satisfaction the continued development of a bilateral relationship based on historical links, common democratic traditions and shared values of democracy, pluralism, inclusivity and freedom, the MEA added.
The countries highlighted the strong trade and investment links. Over 140 Danish companies are present in India and are participating in the ‘Make in India ‘initiative. India also welcomed Denmark into the International Solar Alliance, a large number of regional and multilateral issues was also discussed, the Ministry of External Affairs informed.
On asked whether or not the Kim Davy’s extradition was discussed during the bilateral meet, MEA said,” The issue of Kim Davy’s extradition was mentioned. It was agreed that the concerned officials on India and Denmark side will be in touch, both sides will work for early resolution of the issue”.
Also Read: PM UN Address: Self-reliant India will be force multiplier for global economy
