Minister Valtonen to visit India

Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen will visit New Delhi, India, on 21–22 February. She will attend India’s most important foreign and security policy conference, the Raisina Dialogue. The visit will take place within the framework of co-operation between the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8).

Minister Valtonen will meet India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at a working lunch together with the Nordic and Baltic ministers. They will discuss the current state of relations between the countries, opportunities for future cooperation and topical international issues.

This year, Finland and India are celebrating the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. The aim of the visit is to strengthen bilateral relations, to highlight foreign and security policy issues important to Finland and to contribute to the international foreign and security policy debate during the Raisina Dialogue.

“India is continuously consolidating its position internationally. It is clear that India will play a key role in solving many global challenges, for example in defending the rules-based international system and combating climate change. The joint presence of the Nordic and Baltic countries in this year’s Raisina Dialogue strengthens the messages important to Finland in one of the world’s most important growth centres,” Minister Valtonen says.

The Raisina Dialogue, annually hosted by the Indian Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, brings together heads of state, ministers, businesses and the media and academia to discuss the state of the world and explore opportunities for cooperation. Minister Valtonen will speak at the conference in a high-level panel discussion on Arctic cooperation and participate in a debate on security policy. The ministers attending the conference will also meet India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.