PM Modi in Norway: PM Modi emplanes for Oslo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has landed in Oslo, where he will hold talks with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre on trade, technology and other key sectors.

Mr. Modi, who is on a four-nation European tour, arrived in Oslo from Sweden on Monday. He was received at the airport by PM Støre and other top leaders of the Scandinavian country.

This will be the first visit of PM Modi to Norway. It will also mark the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Norway in 43 years.

- PTI

India and the Netherlands upgraded bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country on Saturday and Sunday.

The two sides signed 17 agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in areas of “WAH” (water, agriculture, and health), renewable energy, critical minerals, and a semiconductor fabrication project between TATA Electronics and Dutch company ASML.

Recently elected Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said he had raised “sensitive topics” with PM Modi, including a legal custody and abduction case involving a Dutch-born child, Insiya. Besides, a number of Dutch media outlets reported that Mr. Jetten spoke about concerns over “press freedoms and minority rights in India”, which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) later pushed back on.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded Sweden’s highest honour, the ‘Royal Order of the Polar Star, Degree Commander Grand Cross,’ on Sunday, May 17, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to bilateral ties and his visionary leadership.

The award is the highest distinction that can be given to a Head of Government. This is Prime Minister Modi’s 31st international honour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday departed for Norway after concluding a visit to Sweden, where the two countries elevated their ties to a Strategic Partnership and explored new avenues of cooperation.

This will mark the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Norway in 43 years, and Mr. Modi’s maiden visit to the Nordic nation.

During his two-day visit to Sweden, Mr. Modi held talks with his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson, focusing on trade, technology, defence, and other key areas.

- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Oslo on May 18-19 for the third India-Nordic Summit comes as the logic of India’s engagement with Northern Europe has fundamentally changed.

When India first met the Nordics — Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland — in Stockholm in 2018, and again in Copenhagen in 2022, the relationship was anchored largely in climate cooperation, innovation, digitalisation and the blue economy. Those priorities remain important, but a transformed geopolitical landscape is giving the partnership strategic depth and economic purpose.

The change underway reflects developments beyond bilateral ties. The war in Ukraine has transformed Europe’s security order, while strains within the trans-Atlantic alliance have unsettled long-standing assumptions.

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