First Indo-Nordic Summit

Prime Minister Narender Modi paid a visit to Sweden on April 16, making it the first bilateral
visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Nordic Nation in 30 years. The main aim of the visit
was to deepen the bilateral engagement that both countries have in various fields including
trade, investment, clean energy, education and agriculture. Also, the 1 st Indo-Nordic Summit
was jointly organised by India and Sweden in Stockholm on April 17. The summit was
attended by the Prime Ministers of all the Nordic nations which are Norway, Denmark,
Iceland and Finland. The summit holds importance due to the strong ties that India have
with these Nordic nations. Prime Minister Modi will meet the leaders of the Nordic group
both collectively and individually. This a new trend emerging in India’s Foreign policy, that is,
collective engagements with key regional groups like the ASEAN-India Summit, India-Africa
Summit have been an example of this, a break from the past wherein India excessively
focused on bilateral talks. These countries are well economically developed and have such
strong connectivity and ties among themselves which is pushed India to address these
countries in a group rather than addressing them individually.
This summit marks an end to the neglect of a very crucial regional grouping who are
punching above their weight in the world scenario. The agenda of the summit is to how can
these Nordic nations be actively engaged in the various development programmes that India
is working like Make in India, Skill India and Start-up India. With farm incomes on decline
and Prime Minister promising to double the farm incomes by 2022, there is a need for
innovation in agriculture sector and dairy farming sector. Denmark, one of the Nordic
nations is a leader in agricultural innovation and devising new techniques to improve
agriculture sector. The other issues which are also on agenda are data security, cyber
security and also issues related to terrorism and the changing global dynamics. These
nations play a great role in international politics with their close relations with Russia and
they also have great bond with the member of erstwhile USSR. And Russia is a close ally for
India also.
Agriculture in these countries was once in a very bad shape due to use of chemicals and
harsh climate that these countries have. But over time they have consolidated the farm
sector and the dairy industry to increase output and efficiency which can be of help to India.
Companies like Amul have learnt from these experiences of the Nordic countries. These
countries also have great waste disposal system where the waste is itself segregated into
different categories at the source and later is recycled or reused or other methods are used
on the basis of the category of waste. Waste management is a major problem in India also
which can be solved with the help of these countries. The Nuclear Safety Regulations also,
that these countries have are the best in the world.
This summit is for starters a very good initiative and it is to be seen, how it is carried
forward. For quite some time now the Nordic region is known for their economic
performance, technological development, good governance and their social welfare
schemes. These countries are now looking for diversification, they have resources and
technology and are masters in good governance. And India is looking for investment and
technology and ideas for good governance around the world. India has a large manpower,
they have the resources and technology, so both the parties complement each other and
can cooperate with each other on large scale. India is looking to make a few purchases on
the defence side from Sweden which was also discussed.
These countries also have one of the best education systems in world which they have
achieved with the help of innovation and technology. These countries are peace-loving and
don’t use abrasive language which is hard to see in today’s world. The trade is also one of
the major focus area where we should increase the amount of trade between India and
these countries which has a large potential. These countries have gone through the phase
which we are currently going through. Therefore, it is so much that we can learn from these
countries and their past experiences which can help us to further grow as a nation with their
technology, knowledge and cooperation.

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