Iceland PM Frostadóttir hails strong 'Sambandh' with India

Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir has described the “sambandh” between Iceland and India as “very good”, spotlighting growing economic and technological ties between the two nations. The word “sambandh” is used in the Islandic language and Indian languages, and means partnership or relationship.

Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal on the bilateral meeting with Indian PM Modi, Frostadóttir highlighted the EFTA-India free trade agreement as a key driver of closer relations.

“We are sharing knowledge in renewables,” she said, pointing to Iceland’s expertise in geothermal energy. At the India-Nordic Summit, Frostadóttir emphasised the importance of democratic cooperation in turbulent times.

“In a world where major powers are using trade and other tools confrontationally, it is vital that nations like India and the Nordics continue this dialogue on climate and progressive matters,” she added.

My first question to you is about the word Sambandh, because that has been the buzzword ever since you mentioned that this is an Icelandic word, it's an Indian word as well. But how is the samband between India and Iceland?

The Sambandh between the two countries is very good, especially after we signed the free trade agreement between the EFTA countries and India. We saw and have been seeing an increase in trade. It was an investment-based agreement as well, so we've seen investment coming from Iceland into India over the past couple of years, but we've also seen knowledge coming to Iceland from India through high-skilled labour, and also from us into renewables and the renewable sectors in India, and we're very proud of that.

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What was your conversation with the Indian Prime Minister today? You held a bilateral meeting with him.

We focus mostly on geothermal energy, and our work together on that end. We have a good story to tell in Iceland, sort of coming out of poverty and a developing country into a rich, high GDP per capita country by harnessing our resources in a good way. We did that both with energy, we did it with fisheries, so we have a good story to tell on that end, but we are a small country in terms of population, even though our geography is bigger than you might think, but we're able to scale this at a bigger level in India, and also be able to contribute to rising wealth in that area, which we obviously want.

My last question to you is, the Indian Nordic Summit? What were the key aspects of the India-Nordic Summit? How do you see this summit helping the Nordics and India come together?

I think the most important message coming out of this summit is that countries are still working together. The Nordics as a group are the size of a middle-income country. We are far away from India, but we share a lot of things, and in a world where major powers are using trade as well as weapons, diplomatic relations are even somewhat breaking down. It's important that, a big democratic nation like India is opening up, having this dialogue, and also setting the tone for progressive matters. I can mention, for example, climate change and investment in climate tech, which I think is an important message at this point.