NEW DELHI: The Nordic countries reiterated their support for India’s permanent membership of a reformed and expanded UN Security Council. While Norway and Finland have been supporting India’s bid at the UNSC, the other Nordic countries — Denmark, Iceland and Sweden — also affirmed their support for a rules-based international order for multilateral institutions. They also reiterated their commitment to making these institutions more inclusive, transparent and accountable with the aim of addressing global challenges more effectively.
“This included working towards reform of the United Nations, including of the Security Council, to make it more effective, transparent and accountable. There were talks about the reform of the World Trade Organisation, as well as strengthening collaboration on global health issues, including pandemic preparedness and response,” a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
India has for long been pitching for a permanent seat at UNSC for over a decade now, but China has been the stumbling block. However, with support coming from Nordic countries, India’s hopes have been raised. The UNSC issue also figured in discussions between Norway’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anniken Huitfeldt and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, when the former visited Delhi last month for the Raisina Dialogue.
Besides, the bilateral agreements signed with the Nordic countries, their support for India’s permanent membership of the UNSC is one of the biggest takeaways from PM Modi’s Denmark visit.
PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday met his counterparts from Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland separately ahead of the India-Nordic Summit, with firming up bilateral ties and strengthening support for India’s UNSC bid on his mind.
“As members of the UNSC, India and Norway have been engaging with each other in the UN on global issues of mutual interest,” the MEA said after Modi’s meeting with Norway’s PM Jona Gahr Store.