Denmark is the only country with which India has a green strategic partnership

Maintaining that Denmark is only country with which India has a green strategic partnership, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar who is on a two-day (September 4-5) visit to the Scandinavian country on Saturday said the two countries which held their 4th Joint Commission meeting, “devised a joint action plan for the next five years.

“We looked at how the joint action plan has delivered even in the middle of Covid. And I must say, I compliment officials on both sides that they have actually done a lot in the last year and a half for all the travel problems that we’ve had. Again as you've just heard we had 10 working groups in our joint commission. We just added an 11th one, one on health. Its relevance is obvious given the context of the Covid.”

The External Affairs Minister said this in his press statement after the 4th India-Denmark Joint Commission Meeting on Saturday. Jaishankar's visit to Denmark was the first by an Indian Foreign Minister to the Scandinavian country in 20 years.

Highlighting the uniqueness of relations between the two countries, the EAM said Denmark is the only country with which we have a green strategic partnership.

“We look at it, you know, everybody says build back better, but we also want to grow back greener. And in growing back greener, we think Denmark is a very, very unique partner, because you have strengths and experiences and best practices which are enormously helpful for a country like India at this stage of its development,” EAM Jaishankar said.

Speaking about his meeting with CEOs of the five Danish companies, he said, “Companies like Grundfos, Vestas, Maersk, Haldor, Topsoe and CIP '' can make a big difference in India in the field of green development.

He said there are 200 Danish companies operating in India and also the number of Indian companies in Denmark is growing.

“We also discussed how apart from our own bilateral cooperation, how we could carry forward, our larger trade investment agreements with the European Union and which we have, I believe have Denmark's support,” the EAM said.

He also informed that during the Joint Commission Meeting, both sides also discussed the Covid-19 situation and challenges posed by it.

“We have also discussed the Covid situation. How we have each coped with it. What are the lessons and what are the challenges posed by Covid in terms of travel and mobility. Because, in this globalized world, we have tourists, we have students, we have seafarers, we have aircrews and we have to find some way by which their life and their professions are made better than they have been for the last year,” the EAM said.

In his statement before the media, Jaishankar also said that he called on the Danish Queen.

“I was very honored to be granted an audience by her majesty, the Queen, and she was very very gracious in her recollections of India and her sentiments that she expressed for our relationship,” the EAM said