Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sweden late night on Monday as part of the India-Nordic Summit. The prime minister was received by his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven at the Stolkhome Arlanda airport.
Modi also received a ceremonial reception.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to meet King of Sweden King Carl XVI Gustaf in the morning followed by a walk with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven from Sogerska to Rosenbad.
Later in the day, the prime ministers of both the countries will sign bilateral agreements followed by a press conference. Prime Minister Modi is further scheduled to take part in the Sweden-India business day.
Prime Minister Modi will also attend the India-Nordic Summit and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sweden. Indian Ambassador to Finland Vani Rao confirmed that issues related to global security would be discussed at the India-Nordic Summit.
"Global security is definitely on the agenda for discussion. In the recent past, European countries have been a target of terrorism and violent extremism. The European Union is more sensitive to the issue now, which gives us an opportunity to sensitise them about the threat of terrorism and violent extremism, and how these groups are active in our neighborhood, particularly in South Asia," she said.
Rao stated that Prime Minister Modi would be holding talks with the prime ministers from the Nordic nations, namely Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, both in the summit and through one-on-one engagements on how they could contribute to India's flagship programmes.
"This is the first time the summit is taking place here. The Nordic region countries are similar in terms of socio-economic status and industrialisation. They also possess stable governance and strong stance on environmental matters. We will engage with them in a similar manner, and examine how they can help our missions like Make in India, Skill India, Startup India and Smart Cities programmes. We are also looking at leveraging their expertise in the areas of food processing, renewable energy, and so on," she said.
Talking about the bilateral engagement between Prime Minister Modi and his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipila, Rao stated that a high-level dialogue would be taking place to review and strengthen bilateral ties, with trade and investment as the key focus.
"Prime Minister Modi and the Finnish PM are meeting after almost two years. It will be a high-level dialogue, where the two leaders would review the bilateral agenda, and how the same can be strengthened and diversified. While trade and investment will be the focus, we are also looking to explore engagement in new areas. For example, Nordic countries have expertise in vocational education and clean technology; these are some areas of interest. Apart from this, the two leaders will also discuss matters pertaining economic and financial cooperation," she said.
The community event is scheduled to be held at the Stockholm University in the evening, after which Prime Minister Modi will depart for London at night.
The forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Modi's visit to the UK will focus on enhancing India-UK tech partnership. He will attend the CHOGM in London from April 19 to 20.
After concluding his visits to Sweden and the UK, the Prime Minister will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin for a brief while and both the leaders will exchange views on a number of bilateral, regional and global issues.