India, Denmark agree to elevate bilateral relations to Green Strategic Partnership

New Delhi [India], September 28 : India and Denmark on Monday decided to elevate their relations to Green Strategic Partnership and reaffirmed their determination to strengthen cooperation and contribute for comprehensive reforms of the WTO.
According to a joint statement issued after a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen, the two countries expressed their commitment for working towards an "ambitious, fair, and mutually beneficial" Trade and Investment Agreement between EU and India to further strengthen and deepen the EU-India ties.
They also agreed to examine the possibilities for labour mobility, as well as to consider ease of travel between the two countries to facilitate greater people-to-people interaction.
"Given the shared desire to remain trusted partners, the two Prime Ministers agreed to elevate India-Denmark relations to a Green Strategic Partnership. This partnership would build on and consolidate the existing agreement establishing a Joint Commission for Cooperation (signed 6 February 2009) between India and Denmark which envisaged cooperation within the political field, economic and commercial field, science and technology, environment, energy, education and culture," the statement said.
In addition, the partnership builds on and complements the existing Joint Working Groups on renewable energy, urban development, environment, agriculture and animal husbandry, food processing, science, technology and innovation, shipping, labour mobility and digitization.
The two leaders expressed their conviction that a decision of the two countries to establish Green Strategic "has opened a new chapter in the friendly and cooperative relations between them".
"Ambitious goals and actions will be identified within the areas and outlined in an Action Plan that will be worked out and endorsed as soon as possible," the statement said.
It said the Green Strategic Partnership is a mutually beneficial arrangement to advance political cooperation, expand economic relations and green growth, create jobs and strengthen cooperation on addressing global challenges and opportunities with a focus on an ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The two countries agreed to be at the forefront in the global fight against climate change. "Both countries have set very ambitious national targets on climate and energy that will contribute to an ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement. Together, the two countries will show the world that delivering on ambitious climate and sustainable energy goals is possible," the statement said.
Both sides also agreed to strengthen existing City-to-City cooperation between Udaipur and Aarhus and Tumakuru and Aalborg.
The two leaders noted that Danish companies are contributing to designing infrastructure projects in India and welcomed the greater engagement of the Danish side in all fields of sustainable urban development.
Both leaders appreciated the deep cooperation on maritime affairs and noted the potential for enhancing cooperation in shipbuilding and design, maritime services and Green shipping, as well as port development.
India and Denmark confirmed the emerging cooperation in Intellectual Property Rights, which will help to modernize and strengthen their national intellectual property systems to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement.
The two leaders confirmed their interest in expanding dialogue and sharing best practices on health policy issues, including on epidemics and vaccines, especially to combat Covid-19 and future pandemics. They agreed to work on expanding commercial opportunities for businesses by creating more favourable environments for the life science sector, including research collaborations.
The two Prime Ministers agree to join efforts and initiatives to support and promote a rule-based multilateral system.
This includes strong multilateral cooperation to face the urgency to step up global efforts to combat the global challenges on energy and climate change and a common commitment to the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Solar Alliance.
Both sides supported the need for cooperation on promotion of an open, inclusive and rule-based multilateral trading system under the WTO at its core to promote global growth and sustainable development.
"Both sides expressed their support for the ongoing discussions to reform the WTO. Both sides reaffirmed their determination to strengthen cooperation and contribute for comprehensive reforms of the WTO. Both sides agreed that the reforms need to be inclusive and to be carried out in a transparent manner, high priority being the restoration of a full-strength Appellate Body as part of the two-tiered Dispute Settlement System of the WTO," the statement said.