First India-Nordic countries summit: India co-hosting summit with Sweden

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend India'sfirst ever summit with five Nordic countries on April 17.

The five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden will be looking to give fresh impetus to their ties with India.

PM Modi will meet the leaders of the five countries to discuss a range of global issues including trade, investment and environment.

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India is co-hosting the summit with Sweden and therefore PM Modi will be received by the king of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf. He will also hold bilateral meetings with the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and members of business community in Sweden.

India’s trade with Sweden is around 1.8 billion dollars every year and over 170 Swedish companies have invested some 1.4 billion dollars in India over the past two decades. Sweden’s flagship IKEA has just entered the Indian market introducing its unique lifestyle brand to the country. The multinational group is said to be looking at empowering the female workforce in India.

Another almost ritualistic event for PM Modi is to meet the local Indian community. Indians in Sweden feel India can gain from Sweden’s environmental drive, technology and culture.

In 2016-17 alone, India’s trade with the region was of 5.3 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment was of 2.5 billion dollars. The Nordic countries indeed have globally recognised strengths in clean technologies, environmental solutions, port modernisation, food processing, health, agriculture infrastructure, skill development and innovation, which constitutes India's top priorities.

The Summit places India as the point of interest for the five nations.