Modi meets PMs of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland
Stockholm, April 17: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Finland ahead of the first ever India-Nordic Summit here.
Modi held the first meeting with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
In a tweet, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the to leaders "had a good meeting on renewing and enhancing cooperation and expressed their mutual desire to take the relationship forward".
After the meeting, the two sides exchanged MoUs in the areas of animal urban development, animal husbandry and dairying, food safety and agricultural research and educaion
Modi then met his Icelandic counterpart Katrin Jakobsdottir.
"PM urged Icelandic companies to look at India as an investment destination in blue economy and geothermal energy and strengthen cooperation in education, tourism and culture," Kumar said.
After the meeting, the two sides signed an MoU on the establishment of the ICCR Chair for Hindi language between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the University of Iceland.
Following this, Modi held a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
According to the Indian spokesperson, the two leaders had an "engaging interaction" on trade and investment, shipping and port-development, blue economy, renewable energy, health, information technology and green transport solutions.
Finally, the Indian leader met Finnish Prime Minister Juhu Sipila.
"We had excellent discussions on deepening avenues of cooperation between India and Finland," Modi said in a separate tweet.
India and Sweden are co-hosting the India-Nordic Summit on the second and final day of Modi's visit to Sweden.
For India, Nordic countries are a potential source for clean technology, environmental solutions, port modernisation, cold chain, skill development, innovation among other areas.
According to figures provided by the Indian External Affairs Ministry, India's trade with the Nordic countries totaled around $5.3 billion in 2016-17, with cumulative foreign direct investment in India at $2.5 billion.
Earlier on Tuesday, Modi held a bilateral summit with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven following which India and Sweden signed a Joint Action Plan and an Innovation Partnership for a Sustainable Future.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
