India, Iceland discuss green shipping, capacity building and fisheries

Reykjavik, Aug 18 (IANS) India’s Ambassador to Iceland, R. Ravindra, on Tuesday called on Eyjolfur Armannsson, Iceland Infrastructure Minister, and briefed him about the upcoming ‘Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue’.

“Ambassador R. Ravindra paid a courtesy call on Eyjolfur Armannsson, Minister of Infrastructure, on August 18. Ambassador briefed about the upcoming ‘Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue’. Ambassador also held a meeting with Ingilin Kristmannsdottir, Permanent Secretary and Arni Freyr Stefansson, Director at the Ministry of Infrastructure. Discussions were held on Green shipping, capacity building and fisheries-related matters,” the Embassy of India in Iceland said on social media platform X.

In May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Icelandic counterpart Kristrun Frostadottir held a meeting on the sidelines of the third India-Nordic Summit in Oslo, during which they discussed strengthening cooperation in areas such as clean energy, fisheries, sustainability, geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage.

This was the first meeting between PM Modi and Frostadottir since the latter assumed office.

Prime Minister Modi congratulated his Iceland counterpart Frostadottir for being the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Nordic island nation.

Both leaders talked about ways to improve ties in areas such as clean energy, fisheries, sustainability, geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, etc.

“Iceland’s prowess in sectors relating to the Blue Economy is admirable. We are hopeful that the historic India-EFTA TEPA will give an impetus to trade and investment linkages as well,” PM Modi said on X.

The two leaders discussed deepening ties, particularly in the context of the coming into effect of the India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Both leaders noted that TEPA provides an excellent opportunity to unlock the true bilateral potential in trade, investment, and manufacturing collaboration.

The two leaders also reviewed the progress of bilateral cooperation in sectors such as geothermal energy, fisheries, innovative technologies, creative economy, culture, tourism, mobility, and people-to-people contacts. They also discussed enhancing cooperation in Arctic research.

During the meeting, PM Modi invited Kristrun Frostadottir to visit India at a mutually convenient time.

–IANS

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