Prime Minister (PM) of Denmark H.E. Mette Frederiksen visited India from October 09 to 11, 2021. It is Mette Frederiksen Blinken’s 1st State visit to India.
- The visit is aimed at further strengthening and enhancing the friendly relationship between the two nations.
-Reviewed the progress in Green Strategic Partnership
i.The two nation’s PMs have reconfirmed their commitment to ‘Green Strategic Partnership’ and have firmed up a 5-year action plan (from 2021 to 2026) to implement it focused on ways to augment and consolidate green and low carbon growth.
- The Green Strategic Partnership is a mutually beneficial arrangement made between India-Denmark in 2020 to advance political cooperation, expand economic relations and green growth, create jobs and strengthen cooperation with a focus on UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
ii.Both the nations have confirmed the collaboration on initiatives to combat the global challenge of climate change, in accordance with goals set out by the Paris Agreement and the UN SDGs.
iii.Focus is on following sectors: water; environment; renewable energy and its integration into the grid; climate action; resource efficiency and circular economy; sustainable and smart cities; business; trade and investments including cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights; maritime cooperation, including maritime security; food and agriculture; science, technology and innovation; health and life science; cooperation in multilateral organizations; as well as cultural and people-to-people relations.
iv.The two Prime Ministers agreed to enhance the commercial cooperation with new technologies, in particular green hydrogen, E-mobility and storage. The two Prime Ministers noted the active global collaboration on new green energy technologies, including under EU Horizon Programs and Mission Innovation, and emphasized the Indian-Danish collaboration for low emissions as well as in the planned joint call for research and development projects in the area of green fuels, including green hydrogen.
Note – Second India-Nordic summit to be held in 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark. UNLEASH initiative will be launched in Bengaluru, India, in 2022.
-MoU Signed between India-Denmark
4 Government -to- Government Agreements were signed in the fields of traditional knowledge, skill development, mapping of groundwater resources.
| Name of the MoU/Agreement | Exchanged from Indian side by | Exchanged from Danish side by |
|---|---|---|
| MoU on mapping of groundwater resources and aquifers: between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, Aarhus University, Denmark and Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. | V.M. Tiwari Director CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad (Telangana) | Ambassador. Freddy Svane |
| Traditional Knowledge Digital Library Access Agreement between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and Danish Patent and Trademark Office. | Viswajanani J Sattigeri Head, CSIR-Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, New Delhi | Amb. Freddy Svane |
| MoU between Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Danfoss Industries Private Limited to establish a Centre of Excellence towards natural refrigerants for tropical climates with potential applications. | Govindan Rangarajan Director Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru | Ravichandran Purushothaman, President, Danfoss India |
| Joint Letter of Intent between Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India and The Government of Denmark | Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship | Amb. Freddy Svane |
Three Commercial Agreements:
Along with the above MoUs, both the government have also made the following 3 commercial MoUs.
i.MoU between Reliance Industries Limited and Stiesdal Fuel Technologies on the development of the Hydrogen Electrolyzer and the subsequent manufacturing and deployment of the Hydrogen Electrolyzer in India.
ii.MoU between Infosys Technologies and Aarhus University to establish a ‘Center of Excellence for Sustainability Solutions’ based in Denmark.
iii.MoU between the ‘Observer Research Foundation’ and ‘State of Green’ on strategic cooperation to promote knowledge-sharing on solutions and facilitate research on the green transition of the economy.
-MoU Signed Between Grundfos, Tata Projects
Danish pump and water solutions company Grundfos signed a MoU with Tata Projects to cooperate and explore projects jointly in the area of environment, sustainability and water.
- The company unveiled innovative drinking water and dispensing solution in New Delhi.
- The dispensing solution consists of intelligent pumps, which control a membrane treatment system and a dispenser that provides clean and safe drinking water. The MoU will create jobs and strengthen India’s water security.
Note – There are more than 200 Danish companies present in India and over 60 Indian companies have a presence in Denmark.
Recent Related News:
India was positioned at an overall rank of 59th among 110 countries in the 3rd edition of ‘Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) 2021’ prepared by cybersecurity company ‘Surfshark’. This is 2 positions lower than the 57th rank secured by India in the 2020 Index.
About Denmark:
Capital – Copenhagen
Currency – Danish krone
