India–Denmark Joint Statement during State Visit of Prime Minister of Denmark to India (October 09, 2021)

Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, hosted Her Excellency Ms. Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark during a State visit to India from 9-11 October 2021.

The two Prime Ministers underlined the warm and friendly relations between India and Denmark based on shared principles and values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights. They agreed that India and Denmark are natural and close partners and agreed to enhance efforts for reforming and strengthening multilateralism and a rules-based international order, including freedom of navigation.

The Prime Ministers noted with satisfaction the positive and encouraging progress in the bilateral relations since they launched the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark during their Virtual Summit on 28 September 2020. The Prime Ministers confirmed their expectation that the bilateral relationship will grow even stronger in the coming years in areas of mutual importance, most significantly within the green sector, but also other priority areas of cooperation including health. The two Prime Ministers reiterated the importance of cultural co-operation and agreed to further strengthen cultural exchanges between India and Denmark.

Five year Action Plan for the Green Strategic Partnership

The two Prime Ministers reconfirmed their commitment to an aspiring and results-oriented Green Strategic Partnership. They welcomed the detailed 5-year Action Plan (2021-2026) and noted the progress in its implementation. They agreed that strengthening of the Green Strategic Partnership will be important for green growth and will lead to mutually beneficial cooperation. They decided to take stock of progress at an appropriate future occasion and to consider ways to further enhance and strengthen the Green Strategic Partnership.

Sustainable development and green growth

The Prime Ministers focused on ways to augment and consolidate green and low carbon growth as reflected in the 5 year Action Plan. This includes the 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.

The two Prime Ministers noted the immense potential of developing renewable energy in India and in this context welcomed the new manufacturing and technology investments from Danish companies in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. They were encouraged by the extensive and broad-based collaboration in the field of energy; including wind power, power modelling and grid integration, which has expanded at an impressive pace since their virtual summit in September 2020. 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.

Both Prime Ministers stressed the importance of collaboration in the water sector and welcomed initiatives between the two governments in the field of urban and rural water, wastewater management and river rejuvenation. The two Prime Ministers noted the possibility of upscaling activities in the fields of water supply, wastewater management and river rejuvenation from city level to state level/basin level and encouraged further exploring this option with the relevant authorities. The two acknowledged that collaboration can improve the sustainable water supply including reducing water loss, water resource management and transition from wastewater handling to resource recovery in India.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen referred to the Danish ratification of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), noting the significant potential of this initiative to contribute to the collective universal climate action, including by combining efforts to promote all sources of renewable energy. As India and Denmark are Members of LeadIT, both Prime Ministers also agreed to pursue cooperation on hard-to-abate sectors in relation to the Leadership Group on Industry Transition.

The two Prime Ministers 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 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Prime Ministers stressed that climate change is a global crisis that requires global leadership; Denmark and India agreed that the urgency and global solidarity in achieving a just and fair transition to a greener and sustainable future requires common actions in accordance with national circumstances and the principles of equity, and commitments under the Paris Agreement. The Prime Ministers agreed that global ambitious action to mitigate and adapt to climate change must be aligned with the best available science and with the findings of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Prime Ministers also agreed that global collaboration is essential for ensuring a sustainable post pandemic economic recovery. The Prime Ministers discussed the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow, and agreed on the need for concrete and ambitious results from COP26, and to work closely together in this regard.

Both Prime Ministers stressed the importance of identifying relevant sources of sustainable financing and investments, noting with satisfaction the substantial interest and commitment among private financing institutions. Both Prime Ministers confirmed their commitment to promote investments and project development through enhanced dialogue and cooperation on favourable framework conditions. Furthermore, the Prime Ministers agreed that transfer of innovative and affordable technologies is vital for the promotion of low carbon energy and industry transition. The Prime Ministers expressed a common ambition to expand the commercial cooperation within energy to include e-mobility, offshore wind, fuel-technologies, including green hydrogen and green methanol, among others.

The two Prime Ministers noted that the UNLEASH initiative will be launched in Bengaluru, India, in 2022. This will support the role of the youth in fostering entrepreneurship necessary for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. Likewise, the two Prime Ministers welcomed the sustainable water entrepreneurship initiative under the Niti Aayog – Atal Innovation Mission and Innovation Center Denmark ‘Water Challenge’ in 2022 and 2023.

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the steps already taken to implement the Green Strategic Partnership, including the 3-year work plan on sustainable water supply in support of the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Letter of Intent dated 5 July 2021 between the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Government of Denmark in the field of sustainable and smart urban water sector as well as the Memorandum of Understanding between the Centre for Ganga River Basin and Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (cGanga), and Innovation Center Denmark, Government of Denmark, to support the development of technological solutions for a clean Ganga river.

Health, vaccine partnerships and Covid-19

The Prime Ministers exchanged views on the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, and agreed on the need to establish globally beneficial vaccine partnerships, building in particular on India’s strong position in vaccine production and its support to ensure vaccine availability to those in need across the globe. The Prime Ministers noted that the two countries shall establish collaborations between science agencies on the Indian side and the Novo Nordisk Foundation on the Danish side through matched contributions, for research and development in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The two Prime Ministers decided to explore opportunities regarding mutual recognition of vaccination certificates to ease travel between the two countries.

The two Prime Ministers re-confirmed their support to the newly signed Memorandum-of-Understanding (MoU) on Health and expressed satisfaction that the first Joint Working Group had already taken place. They underlined the great potential of the MoU to build a comprehensive collaboration on health, including on digital health, chronic diseases as well as on vaccines and the increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) challenge in light of COVID-19.

New Agreements

The two Prime Ministers witnessed the exchange of the following:

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library Access Agreement between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and Danish Patent and Trademark Office.

Joint Letter of Intent between Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of the Republic of India and The Government of Denmark.

MoU between Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India, Aarhus University, Denmark and Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland on mapping of ground water resources and aquifers.

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.

Multilateral cooperation

The Prime Ministers reiterated the importance of strengthened multilateral cooperation to effectively tackle COVID-19, including the need to reform and strengthen the WHO and international emergency preparedness as well as to build back better and greener.

Prime Minister Frederiksen congratulated India on its successful Presidency of the UN Security Council in the month of August and reiterated Denmark’s support for India’s permanent membership of a reformed and expanded UN Security Council. Prime Minister Modi confirmed India’s support for Denmark’s candidacy for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the period 2025-2026.

Regional and global development

The two Prime Ministers shared perspectives on developments in their respective regions, including the worrisome situation in Afghanistan and agreed on the importance of: 1) Avoiding further regional destabilization; 2) strengthening regional engagement including regional trade and connectivity, and taking firm steps to counter radicalisation; and 3) maintaining progress on fundamental rights. They committed to continuing support to the Afghan people, while underlining the need for inclusivity in Afghanistan, counter-terrorism guarantees and respect for human rights, in particular women’s rights, in accordance with UNSC Resolution 2593 (2021).

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the recent announcement of a EU strategy on Indo-Pacific and noted the plans for increased European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

The two Prime Ministers acknowledged the India-EU Leaders’ Meeting hosted by Portugal in May 2021 as a new milestone in the India-EU Strategic Partnership and welcomed the decision to resume negotiations of an ambitious, balanced, comprehensive and mutually beneficial India-EU Free Trade agreement and launch negotiations on a separate investment agreement. The Prime Ministers underlined the need to start the negotiations at the earliest. They also welcomed the India-EU Connectivity Partnership and agreed to collaborate bilaterally and at the EU level to promote connectivity projects.

Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Frederiksen for the invitation to the Second India-Nordic summit to be convened in Copenhagen in 2022.