Norwegian Ambassador to India calls on J-K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha

Norwegian ambassador to India H. E Mr Hans Jacob Frydenlund on Tuesday called on Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan here.

During the meeting, the Lieutenant Governor and the Norwegian Ambassador held a discussion pertaining to the healthcare facilities of Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting also discussed the India-Norway cooperation in the healthcare sector.

The Lieutenant Governor said that the Union Territory's administration is putting dedicated efforts on developing the health infrastructure, and registered considerable improvement in various health indicators.

He said, "Our focus is on availability, quality and affordability to bridge the health gap of people and to reduce the inequalities in healthcare in rural areas."

The Lieutenant Governor reiterated the commitment of Union Territory's administration to meet the Sustainable Development Goals for ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

On May 4 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met H.E. Mr. Jonas Gahr Store, Prime Minister of Norway, in Denmark's Copenhagen on the sidelines of the 2nd India Nordic Summit. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the assumption of office by Prime Minister Store in October 2021.

Both Prime Ministers reviewed the ongoing activities in bilateral relations and discussed future areas of cooperation.

Prime Minister highlighted that Norway's skills and India's scope provided natural complementarities. Both leaders discussed the potential for deepening engagement in areas like Blue Economy, renewable energy, green hydrogen, solar and wind projects, green shipping, fisheries, water management, rainwater harvesting, space cooperation, long term Infrastructure investment, health and culture.

Discussions also took place on regional and global developments. As members of the UNSC, India and Norway have been engaging with each other in the UN on global issues of mutual interest.

In March 2021, India and Norway have agreed to jointly work in the area of marine spatial planning in the oceanic space for the next five years. In this regard, the first project steering committee meeting with representatives from both countries was successfully conducted virtually recently, after which the two countries have charted out a plan to ensure that human activities at sea take place in an efficient, safe, and sustainable manner in areas such as energy, transportation, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism etc across multiple sectors.

This is a part of the Indo-Norway Integrated Ocean Initiative under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in 2019. Lakshadweep and Puducherry have been identified as pilot sites for the project.

( With inputs from ANI )

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