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In a move to bolster the relationship with Finland, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday hold a telephonic conversation with Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto and discussed current issues of the multilateral agenda.
Taking to Twitter, S Jaishankar said, "Telephonic discussion today with my Finnish counterpart @Haavisto on current issues of the multilateral agenda. This was in the spirit of our close partnership." Earlier, on May 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Finland PM Sanna Marin on the sidelines of the 2nd India-Nordic Summit in Copenhagen and discussed ways to further cement this partnership in trade, investment, technology and other such sectors. This was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders and helps to bolster the relationship. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the progress made in the implementation of the outcomes of the bilateral Virtual Summit held on March 16, 2021. The year 2022 marked 73 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries as it was established in 1949. India and Finland have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations. In recent years, bilateral relations have acquired diversity with collaboration in research, innovation, and investments by both sides. The Indian community in Finland is vibrant and well-placed. Indian culture and yoga are very popular in Finland. The countries have shared numerous high-level prime ministerial and presidential visits over the years. Finland PM Sanna Marin and PM Modi held a virtual bilateral meeting on 16 March 2021. In their first meeting, the Prime Ministers had an extensive discussion on how to deepen concrete cooperation between their countries and addressed several key international issues. Recently in April, Finland's Minister of Economic Affairs met India's Union Minister of State Science & Technology. They announced the decision to establish an Indo-Finnish Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing. The Indian side has identified three premier institutes - IIT Madras, IISER Pune and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Pune for Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing. As per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2019, within the EU, Finland ranks 12th among countries investing in India. More than 100 Finnish companies have operations in India, including through investments. Nokia, Kone, Wartsila, UPM, Fortum, Metso, Huhtamaki, Salcomp, Ahlstrom, etc have set up their manufacturing facilities in India. (ANI)
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