Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Stockholm on the invitation of Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on 16-17th April 2018. It was his first visit to Sweden after taking office. He also called on His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden.
On 17th April 2018, India and Sweden jointly hosted the India-Nordic Summit in Stockholm, with the Prime Ministers of Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The leaders agreed that a strong partnership can help spur innovations, economic growth, sustainable solutions and mutually beneficial trade and investments. The Summit emphasised the importance of strong people-to-people contacts through education, culture, labour mobility and tourism – all areas where the Nordic countries and India see a continuous increase in both interests and numbers.
During Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Prime Minister Lofven, the two leaders decided on an India-Sweden Joint Action Plan, charting out a future roadmap of bilateral cooperation with focus on trade and investment, innovation, S&T, skill development, smart cities, clean energy, digitisation and health.
The short visit also saw the Prime Minister interact with top Swedish CEOs and address the Indian Community members before departing for London.
Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Löfven met on 17 April and exchanged views on regional and multilateral cooperation at the delegation-level talks. They also recalled their Joint Statement issued in Mumbai in 2016 and welcomed progress so far on its implementation and reconfirmed their commitment to the Joint Statement as the overall political framework for cooperation.
To further promote bilateral cooperation, they decided on Innovation Partnership and India-Sweden Joint Action Plan, under which India and Sweden, through relevant ministries, agencies and actors, aim to chart out a roadmap of collaboration with focus on trade and investment, innovation, S&T, skill development, smart cities, clean energy, digitisation and health.
On 17th April 2018, India and Sweden jointly hosted the India-Nordic Summit in Stockholm, with the Prime Ministers of Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
During the Summit, the Prime Ministers pledged to deepen cooperation between the Nordic countries and India, and focused their discussions on key issues related to global security, economic growth, innovation and climate change. The Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of free trade as a catalyst for achieving inclusive growth and realising the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Prime Ministers acknowledged that innovation and digital transformation drive growth in an interconnected world, and underpin a growing engagement between the Nordic countries and India.
The Summit emphasised Indian Government’s strong commitment to innovation and digital initiatives with national flagship programmes such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India and Clean India and welcomed the Nordic Sustainable Cities Project aimed at supporting the Smart Cities Program of the Government of India.
The Prime Ministers agreed that a strong partnership can help spur innovations, economic growth, sustainable solutions and mutually beneficial trade and investments. The Summit also underscored the importance of strong people-to-people contacts through education, culture, labour mobility and tourism – all areas where the Nordic countries and India see a continuous increase in both interests and numbers.
Addressing the Indian Community in Stockholm Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that India is going through a great transformation and the current Union Government, elected on the mandate of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas has worked towards a developed and inclusive India, in the last four years. All efforts are being made to create a New India by 2022, he further added.
The Prime Minister urged the gathering not to limit their connect with India, to just an emotional one. He said that the emerging New India offers them many opportunities to innovate, trade and invest as well.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United Kingdom at the invitation of Prime Minister Theresa May on 18 April 2018. His last visit to the UK was in November 2015. The visit that aimed at focusing on enhancing India-UK partnership in the areas healthcare, innovation, digitization, electric mobility, clean energy, and cyber security saw the two leaders held wide-ranging discussions and underlined strategic partnership and growing convergence on regional and international issues.
He also called on Queen Elizabeth II, interact briefly with CEOs of the two nations, working on a new agenda of economic partnership, launch an Ayurveda Centre of Excellence in London, and welcome the UK into the International Solar Alliance, as its newest member.
On 19th-20th April he also participated in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The visit also saw the Prime Minister meet people from various walks of life who have enriched the multi-faceted India-UK relationshipunder the theme of “Living Bridge”.
Prime Minister Modi visited the London based Francis Crick Institute with Prime Minister May.The Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases. Prime Minister May showed Prime Minister Modi cutting edge research which is being done on cancer as well as on malaria and also spoke to a number of researchers, many of whom are Indian nationals. Both the Prime Ministers also attended a technology demonstration and launched the India-UK Tech alliance and met a number of young Technology entrepreneurs.
India and the UK announced a wide range of MoUs/agreements and initiatives across technology, trade and investment. The two sides signed 10 agreements and MoUs covering a vast spectrum of areas. They agreed to an overarching cyber-relationship framework that enables the development of a common and shared understanding of international cyber activity and promote cyber security product development; and share information relating to R&D. An MoU was signed on Skill Development, Vocational education and Training and another and the two sides agreed on an arrangement between Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India (AERB) and the Office for Nuclear Regulation of Great Britain (ONBR) on regulation of safe nuclear energy use for peaceful purposes. A statement of Intent between NITI Aayog and UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was signed to explore potential for regular engagement on technology cooperation in areas such as electric vehicles, AI, FinTech, and advanced manufacturing. The two sides also announced that as partners in the next generation of healthcare, theywill collaborate on digital health pilots in India’s Aspirational Health Districts by applying UK evidence-based healthcare AI and technology to strengthen healthcare delivery. These pilots will be carried out in the areas of self-care, primary, secondary and tertiary care, including eye care, diabetes and cancer.
The India-UK CEOs forum was attended by 30 CEOs from India and the UK. On the Indian side it was led by Shri Ajay Piramal and on the UK side, by Mr. Jerry Krimston, head of Standard Life UK. Both the Prime Ministers addressed the forum.
Both the countries are committed to making this a strategic partnership, that spans the globe and the century, seeing our special relationship evolve and improve in the coming years. We encourage our business, cultural and intellectual leaders to exploit the millions of interactions that already link India and the UK, from family to finance, business to Bollywood, sport to science – so that millions more British and Indians exchange and learn, travel, trade and thrive together.
Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Theresa May and the Government of the United Kingdom for the warm hospitality extended to him and his delegation and looked forward to welcoming her in India.
“I was not born with an aim to be in history books. I request you all- remember our
country and not Modi. I am just like you all, a common citizen of India”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Modi took questions live from Indian nationals on diverse topics at a special programme called Bharat Ki Baat Sabke Saath held Methodist Central Hall in London.
“The 125 crore Indians are my family”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“The person at Railway Station was Narendra Modi, The person in the Royal Palace in
London is the 'Sevak' of 125 crore Indians”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings and Commonwealth Summit 2018 took place in London and Windsor, United Kingdom from 16 to 20 April 2018. The theme of the summit was 'Towards our Common Future' which is linked to the theme for Commonwealth Day 2018.
Queen Elizabeth II opened the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace to mark the start of two days of meetings with 53 Commonwealth leaders, both in London and at Windsor Castle. Heads of all 53 Commonwealth nations met under the theme of ‘Towards a Common Future’ and discussed how member states will work even closer together on sustainability, fairness, security and prosperity. Member states also discussed ways of collaborating to tackle the threat of climate change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, during his brief visit to Germany, on 20 April 2018. The two leaders held wide ranging talks to further strengthen India-Germany cooperation in host of sectors. The visit demonstrated the commitment by the two countries to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, towards strengthening strategic partnership.
