Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday arrived in Norway for the fourth leg of his five-nation visit. In a special gesture, he was personally welcomed by his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Store, at the airport. Norway's Ambassador to India, May-Elin Stener, India's Ambassador to Norway, Gloria Gangte, and other officials were present at the airport to welcome him.
PM Modi arrived in Norway for a two-day official visit after concluding his visit to Sweden. During his visit to Norway, PM Modi will attend the third India-Nordic Summit and hold bilateral engagements. This will be PM Modi's first visit to Norway and will also mark the first Prime Ministerial visit from India to Norway in 43 years.
During his visit, PM Modi will call on King Harald V and Queen Sonja and hold bilateral talks with PM Jonas Gahr Store. PM will also address the India-Norway Business and Research Summit along with the Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Store.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, "The visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress made in India-Norway relations and explore avenues to further strengthen them, with a focus on trade and investment, capitalising on the India – EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, as well as on clean and green tech and blue economy."
"The visit will also be an opportunity to induce momentum in bilateral trade worth around USD 2.73 billion (2024), and investments by Norway’s Government Pension Fund (GPFG) of close to USD 28 billion in the Indian capital market," it added.
India and Norway established bilateral relations in February 1947. Norway was one of the first countries to recognise India. Since then, the two nations have shared a cordial and friendly relationship, according to the MEA statement.
The ties between India and Norway are based on shared values of democracy, diversity, empowerment of women, human rights and rule of law. The bilateral ties are marked by regular exchanges of visits and interactions at the highest level and at parliamentary, ministerial and official levels.