"We have been talking with India in several aspects": Estonian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary
Nov 23, 2023
New Delhi [India], November 23 : Estonian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Mariin Ratnik who participated in the CII India Nordic-Baltic Business Conclave 2023 here on Wednesday, said that Estonia is in talks with India in several aspects, including digital and technology.
Speaking to ANI, she said, "It's my first time, indeed, in my official capacity. We have been talking with India in several aspects, but one of those is that I think we have found a common interest in everything that concerns digital and technology..."
Saying that cybersecurity has a key importance at the moment, Ratnik said, "I think, in general, the world is getting more digital. So we need to protect ourselves as humans, we have to protect ourselves as citizens, we have to protect ourselves as states or infrastructure. So it's a very wide area."
"And our belief has been that cybersecurity can function well, only when we talk to like-minded countries, when we learn from each other when we also learn from each other mistakes or attacks so we can prepare ourselves better for future attacks and cooperate...," the Undersecretary for Development Aid, International Trade and Business Diplomacy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, added.
The India Nordic-Baltic Business Conclave, organised for the second time by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, brings together a number of stakeholders to build and strengthen partnerships in key sectors.
The event was opened by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Meanwhile, on the opening of the Indian Embassy in Latvia, the Deputy Economic Minister of Latvia, Jurgis Miezainis told ANI, " This is a very long-awaited decision, it is a game changer."
"...I can only see good things happening in the future regarding the India-Latvia relation and economic ties," he said.
Furthermore, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal in his address at the conclave said that India's exports to Nordic regions have increased significantly in recent years.
The Union Minister pointed out that India's exports to the Nordic region have grown by over 39 per cent from 2018-19 to 2022-23 and that exports to Finland and Norway have grown by over 100 per cent and 80 per cent respectively.
Highlighting the fact that the region has come close to India in recent years, the Minister pointed out that Indian cuisine, Bollywood, yoga, Ayurveda and textiles are extremely popular in the Nordic-Baltic region, as informed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in a press release.
In his address, Goyal said that Nordic-Baltic nations have the best innovation, green tech, AI and blockchain-led transformation, supply chain logistics and fintech, and these are the areas where there is a huge scope for collaboration with India, as India has made great strides in these areas besides being an economic powerhouse with vast mineral resources and a talent pool.
