Europe visit comes when region faces many challenges: PM Modi | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Europe visit comes when region faces many challenges: PM Modi

May 01, 2022 04:29 PM IST

‘My visit to Europe comes at a time when the region faces many challenges and choices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

NEW DELHI: India’s engagements with European partners at a time when Europe is facing many challenges will strengthen cooperation with countries that are “important companions” in New Delhi’s quest for peace and prosperity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris during his European tour. (Reuters File Photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris during his European tour. (Reuters File Photo)

In a departure statement ahead of his visit to Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris, Modi said his engagements with the new German government headed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Nordic countries and the French government following the re-election of President Emmanuel Macron will help drive cooperation in diverse areas.

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“My visit to Europe comes at a time when the region faces many challenges and choices,” he said in the statement, against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis that has raised questions about the long-standing security architecture in Europe.

“Through my engagements, I intend to strengthen the spirit of cooperation with our European partners, who are important companions in India’s quest for peace and prosperity,” he added.

Modi will start the tour with a visit to Berlin, where he and Scholz will co-chair the India-Germany inter-governmental consultations (IGC), a biennial format which India conducts only with Germany. Several ministers are travelling to Germany for consultations with their counterparts.

“I see this IGC as an early engagement with the new government in Germany, within six months of its formation, which will be helpful to identify our priorities for the medium and long term,” he said.

Modi said he looked forward to exchanging views with Scholz on “strategic, regional and global developments that concern us both”. He said commercial ties between India and Germany form one of the pillars of the bilateral strategic partnership, and he and Scholz will jointly address a business roundtable to energise industry-to-industry cooperation and strengthen the post-Covid-19 economic recovery in both sides.

From Berlin, Modi will travel to Copenhagen, where he will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and review progress in the bilateral green strategic partnership and other aspects of the relationship. Modi will also participate in the India-Denmark business roundtable.

Apart from bilateral engagements in Copenhagen, Modi will take part in the second India-Nordic Summit along with his counterparts from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway and review cooperation since the first such summit held in 2018.

The India-Nordic Summit will focus on post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, innovation and technology, renewable energy, the evolving global security scenario and cooperation in the Arctic region.

On the margins of the summit, Modi will meet the leaders of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and review bilateral relations. Modi described the Nordic countries as important partners in sustainability, renewable energy, digitisation and innovation.

On his return journey, Modi will stop over in Paris to meet President Emmanuel Macron and set the tone of the next phase for the bilateral strategic partnership.

“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,” Modi said.

Macron and Modi will also share assessments of regional and global issues and take stock of 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,” Modi said.

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