India, Denmark to strengthen Green Strategic Partnership

India and Denmark on Tuesday agreed to further strengthen the Green Strategic Partnership with a focus on green hydrogen, renewable energy and wastewater management.

“During our discussions, we reviewed the joint work plan for the Green Strategic Partnership. I am happy that significant progress has been made in various fields, especially in the areas of renewable energy, health, ports, shipping, circular economy and water management,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told reporters here after talks with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen.

A number of agreements covering sectors such as green shipping, animal husbandry and dairying, water management, energy, cultural exchange were inked after the bilateral talks.

In a joint statement issued here, the two Prime Ministers welcomed the intention of both countries to deepen and expand the existing cooperation in the field of safe and secure water to meet present and future demand through a holistic and sustainable approach.

“They looked forward to the early signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Danish Environment Ministry as a broad-based framework to enhance the existing cooperation and to launch new initiatives, including a Smart Laboratory on Clean River Water in Varanasi and a Centre of Excellence on Smart Water Resources Management,” it said.

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the Letter of Intent on the establishment of a Centre of Excellence on Green Shipping, which will further strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation.

The two leaders also agreed to expand the cooperation on agriculture by a Joint Declaration of Intent establishing among others a Centre of Excellence on Dairy.

India and Denmark also confirmed their continued collaboration in the field of antimicrobial resistance. India conveyed its acceptance of the Danish invitation to join the International Center for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS) as Mission Partner, the joint statement said.

The Danish Prime Minister confirmed Danish accession to the Global Digital Health Partnership on India’s invitation to improve public health and well-being through evidence-based digital technologies.

Mr. Modi and Ms. Frederiksen welcomed the international agreement at COP26 on the need for accelerated climate action for holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below two degree above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level.

“The two sides confirmed the aspirations — through the Green Strategic Partnership — to take global leadership in pushing for ambitious green energy transition and demonstrate the pathways to achieving it, focusing both on energy efficiency and renewable energy,” the joint statement said.

“India’s Green Strategic Partnership with Denmark is deeply valued. PM Frederiksen and I discussed how we can make this partnership even more effective. We also discussed cooperation in sectors such as renewable energy, ports, shipping, water management and more,” Mr. Modi said in a tweet.

Ms. Frederiksen stressed Denmark’s commitment to speed up the phase out of fossil fuels and the deployment of renewable energy in Denmark to reach the goal of reducing emissions by 70% by 2030.