Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finland’s Prime Minister Ms. Sanna Marin held a Virtual Summit on March 16 and discussed bilateral issues as well as other regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
The press release by the MEA said that both leaders noted that the close relations between India and Finland were based on shared values of democracy, rule of law, equality, freedom of speech, and respect for human rights. They reaffirmed their strong commitment to work for multilateralism, a rules-based international order, sustainable development and combating climate change.
The two leaders reviewed the ongoing bilateral engagements and expressed their desire to further expand and diversify the relationship across sectors such as trade and investment, innovation, education, emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence, 5G/6G, and quantum computing.
Prime Minister Modi appreciated Finland’s leading role in clean and green technologies, and noted the potential for Finnish companies to partner India’s drive towards sustainable development. In this context, he suggested enhanced cooperation in the areas like renewable and bio-energy, sustainability, edu-tech, pharma and digitization.
The leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues, including the India-EU partnership, cooperation in the Arctic region, WTO and UN reforms. Both sides noted the potential for India and Finland to cooperate in undertaking developmental activities in Africa.
Prime Minister Modi invited Finland to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
The two leaders also discussed the Covid-19 situation including their respective vaccination drives, and emphasized the importance of global efforts for urgent and affordable access to vaccines across all nations. The joint statement of the virtual summit of the two countries can be read here.
PM Narendra Modi and Sanna Marin will be meeting again during the India-EU Leaders’ Meeting in Porto and the India-Nordic Summit.
Aayush Pal 
Sindhuri Sai