New Delhi [India], February 22: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted the India-Nordic-Baltic meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing Raisina Dialogue 2024, here on Thursday. He said that the exchange with his counterparts was extremely useful.
The Foreign Ministers of five countries, viz. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and representatives of Norway, Iceland and Lithuania took part in the meeting
“Pleased to host the India-Nordic-Baltic 8 meeting on the sidelines of #RaisinaDialogue2024. Thank FMs of Sweden @TobiasBillstrom, Finland @elinavaltonen, Denmark @larsloekke, Estonia @Tsahkna, Latvia @krisjaniskarins, and representatives of Norway, Iceland and Lithuania for joining,” EAM Jaishankar said in a post on X.
The discussions were held on clean and green technologies, digital and cyber cooperation. The foreign ministers also talked on regional, global and multilateral issues.
“Clean and green technologies, digital and cyber cooperation, high-quality skills and global supply chains hold great promise for our future endeavours. The exchange of perspectives on regional, global and multilateral issues was extremely useful,” his post added.
The first two India-Nordic Summits were held in Stockholm in April 2018 and in Copenhagen in May 2022, respectively.
The second CII India Nordic Baltic Business Conclave was held in the national capital in November last year, when Jaishankar stressed that India’s engagement with the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) has expanded in the last few years.
“Our engagement with the NB8 countries has expanded clearly in the last few years. We opened our embassies in Tallinn in December 2021 and in Vilnius this year in March,” Jaishankar had said.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, addressed the the second CII India Nordic-Baltic Business Conclave 2023, where he stressed on India’s exports to Nordic regions increasing significantly in recent years.
The Union Minister pointed out that India’s exports to the Nordic region have grown by over 39 per cent from 2018-19 to 2022-23 and that exports to Finland and Norway have grown by over 100 per cent and 80 per cent respectively.
Notably, the NB8 countries collectively represent an economy of more than USD 2 trillion, with a population of about 33 million and a high standard of living.
