JOIN USPM Modi hosts Danish PM Mette Frederiksen; first foreign leader to visit India since Covid-19
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hosted Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – the first foreign leader to visit India after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Modi received Frederiksen at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the Danish Prime Minister was accorded a ceremonial reception.
“We consider India as a close partner. I see this visit as a milestone for our bilateral relations,” Frederiksen told journalists at the Rashtrapati Bhavan after Modi introduced her to the members of his council of ministers.
The last such ceremonial reception at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan took place in February 2020 – for the then President of the United States, Donald Trump, on February 25, 2020, and for the then President of Myanmar, U Win Myint, on February 27, 2020.
No foreign Head of Government or Head of State visited New Delhi in the past 18 months, as the world leaders preferred holding virtual meetings through video links in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Modi resumed his foreign visits earlier this year with a two-day tour to Bangladesh on March 26 and 27. He visited the United States from September 22 to 25.
The Prime Minister is also likely to visit Rome for the G-20 summit, which Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will host on October 30 and 31 next.
🇮🇳 🇩🇰 | The first State Visit of 2021!
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 9, 2021
Prime Minister @narendramodi welcomes Prime Minister of Denmark @Statsmin H.E. Ms. Mette Frederiksen and Mr. Bo Tengberg on their maiden visit to India, in a grand ceremony at the @rashtrapatibhvn. pic.twitter.com/vG8FGFEU9S
Modi and Frederiksen will hold a bilateral meeting at the Hyderabad House later on the day. They will also sign of some agreements between the two governments.
The two Prime Ministers had a virtual summit on September 28 last year, when India and Denmark established a ‘Green Strategic Partnership’.
The visit by the Danish Prime Minister will give the two sides “an opportunity to discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations and review the progress in implementation of the Green Strategic Partnership”, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi.
The two sides will also discuss regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest, he added.