Finland, India want closer cooperation

Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a remote bilateral meeting where they discussed how to deepen concrete cooperation between their countries and addressed a number of key international issues, said an official press release.

Marin highlighted the importance of equality – in particular the realisation of the rights of women and girls – for society and the economy.

She told Modi about Finland’s human rights-based approach to foreign policy and Finland’s candidacy for membership in the UN Human Rights Council in 2022–2024.

Marin also emphasised the role of high-quality education in society. India is currently reforming its education system and there is great potential for cooperation between Finland and India in this sphere.

The prime ministers discussed deepening bilateral relations in trade and investment, science, innovation, and sustainable development. Finland and India have many partnerships that aim to promote sustainable development and digitalisation, among other objectives.

In their discussion, the prime ministers found opportunities for closer cooperation in fields such as new technologies and the digital transformation, including in the development of 6G technology, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. Finland and India have a great deal to offer each other in these areas.

They discussed the fight against climate change, both as an international theme and from the perspective of climate initiatives in India and Finland.

The discussion also touched on UN reforms. In this context, Marin affirmed Finland’s support for India’s efforts to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Another item on the agenda was the partnership between the EU and India, a topic the prime ministers will have the opportunity to discuss next at the upcoming India-EU27 Leaders’ Meeting to be held in Porto on 8 May.

The prime ministers also briefly discussed regional issues, such as the situations in Myanmar and Afghanistan, Arctic cooperation and Africa.

In connection with the meeting, Finland and India issued a joint declaration outlining concrete ways to deepen cooperation between the two countries and emphasising the global importance of multilateral rules-based cooperation. It mentioned, among other things, India’s initiative on the International Solar Alliance (ISA), which aims to promote the use of solar energy, and Finland’s joint initiative with Chile on the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action.

The last meeting between the prime ministers of Finland and India was a part of the summit held in 2018 between the Nordic countries and India in Stockholm.