Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday left for France after concluding his "productive" visit to Denmark during which he held a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Nordic countries and attended the second India-Nordic summit. "After a productive Denmark visit, PM @narendramodi emplanes for Paris," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. Modi arrived later in Paris on Wednesday on the final leg of his three-nation European tour during which he would meet French President Emmanuel Macron and discuss issues of bilateral and mutual interests. "Bonjour Paris! PM @narendramodi arrives in Paris on a visit to France," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet. Modi will be among the first few world leaders to meet President Macron after his re-election last week. In a statement before leaving for Europe, Modi had said: "President Macron has very recently been re-elected, and my visit just ten days after the result will not only allow me to convey my personal congratulations in-person, but also reaffirm the close friendship between the two countries. "This will also give us the opportunity to set the tone of the next phase of the India-France Strategic Partnership." "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," he had said. Modi, earlier on Wednesday, attended the second India-Nordic summit in Denmark that primarily focused on post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, renewable energy and the evolving global security scenario. The summit saw the participation of the prime ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The first India-Nordic summit was held in Stockholm in 2018. Modi Wednesday met his counterparts from Norway, Sweden and Iceland on the sidelines of the India-Nordic summit. He met Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Copenhagen to talk about "future areas of cooperation." A press release by the Ministry of External Affairs said that Modi discussed the potential for deepening engagement in areas like Blue Economy, renewable energy, infrastructure investment and others. Sharing the highlights from his visit to Denmark on Tuesday, Modi tweeted that he held "productive talks" with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. In a statement post their talks, Frederiksen said she "hoped" that "India will influence Russia" to end the war in Ukraine. Modi, meanwhile, called for an immediate ceasefire and diplomacy and dialogue. India and the Nordic countries on Wednesday discussed the conflict in Ukraine and its broader regional and global implications as they agreed to remain closely engaged on the issue. A joint statement said the prime ministers expressed their serious concern about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. "They unequivocally condemned civilian deaths in Ukraine. They reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities," it said. It said the prime ministers emphasized that the contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of states. "The Nordic prime ministers reiterated their strong condemnation of the unlawful and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine by Russian forces," the statement said. It said India and the Nordic countries affirmed their support for a rules based international order and for multilateral institutions and their commitment to work towards making them more inclusive, transparent, and accountable with the aim of addressing global challenges more effectively. Modi, who arrived in Copenhagen on Tuesday from Berlin on the second leg of his visit to three European nations, held "productive talks" with his Danish counterpart Frederiksen and also attended a business summit to discuss economic linkages. He also addressed the Indian community and interacted with Denmark's Royal Family. Modi and his Norwegian counterpart marked their first meeting since the assumption of office by PM Støre in October 2021. "Both Prime Ministers reviewed the ongoing activities in bilateral relations and discussed future areas of cooperation," the MEA press release said. Discussions also took place on regional and global developments. As members of UN Security Council, India and Norway have been engaging with each other in the UN on global issues of mutual interest, the release said. "Prime Minister highlighted that Norway's skills and India's scope provided natural complementarities. Both leaders discussed the potential for deepening engagement in areas like Blue Economy, renewable energy, green hydrogen, solar and wind projects, green shipping, fisheries, water management, rainwater harvesting, space cooperation, long term Infrastructure investment, health and culture," the release added. On the sidelines of the India-Nordic Summit, Modi met Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the prime minister of Iceland. "They discussed boosting ties in areas like trade, energy, fisheries and more." Jakobsdóttir in a statement on Wednesday said she discussed about Yoga with Modi. She said, "We talked about Yoga, it's quite popular in Iceland. A lot of people practice it regularly," Jakobsdóttir said. Talking about the discussions held between India and Iceland, Jakobsdóttir said, "India and Iceland have many opportunities on issues of climate cooperation and geothermal energy along with deepening cooperation in carbon binding and fisheries sector. We talked about culture and gender equality as well." Modi also held discussions with his Finnish PM about cooperation in digital innovation, digital goods and platforms. The PM's last bilateral summit meeting was with the Prime Minister of Finland and they talked on building on existing strength that India-Finland have achieved in entire ecosystem of digital partnership. Modi on Wednesday met his Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin here and discussed ways to further cement bilateral ties in trade, investment, technology and other sectors. Modi met Marin on the sidelines of the second India-Nordic Summit in the Danish capital. "Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @MarinSanna met in Copenhagen. The developmental partnership between India and Finland is rapidly growing. Both leaders discussed ways to further cement this partnership in trade, investment, technology and other such sectors," the PMO tweeted. And, in their first meeting, Modi and Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the India-Nordic summit. "In today's meeting, the two leaders reviewed the progress made in our bilateral partnership. They also expressed satisfaction at the progress made by the Lead IT initiative. "This was a India-Sweden joint global initiative to set up a Leadership Group on Industry Transition (LeadIT) in September 2019 at the UN Climate Action Summit to help guide the world's heaviest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting industries towards the low-carbon economy. "Its membership has now grown to 35 with 16 countries and 19 companies," the MEA said in a press release. — Agencies
