G20 raised India's profile as voice of Global South, IMEC has potential: Finnish envoy to WION

Finland's Ambassador to India Kimmo Lähdevirta told WION that G20 under India's presidency has raised India's profile as the voice of the Global South. The envoy also exuded confidence in the potential that the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) holds. In a conversation with WION's Heena Sharma, the envoy also spoke at length about the ongoing India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, Finland's bilateral cooperation with India, the IMEC project, and, the unique framework called DESI (Digitalisation, Education, Sustainability and Innovation partnership). 

Here's the full interview: 

WION: India and Finland have traditionally historical ties. Next year in 2024, the countries will be completing 75 years of diplomatic relations. How do you look at it? 

Finland's Ambassador: It's indeed an important milestone and I think we, as you said, have been enjoying a very good relationship. In the last few years it has become wider and deeper in many respects that we have, For example, we have partnerships in digitalisation, sustainability, regarding innovations, startups, and all kinds of things like that. Especially in the field of digitalization, Finland has a lot to offer to India because we have very advanced companies such as Nokia, who are developing solutions. Also here in India for 6G... already applying 5G here in India. We also have new interests in new areas such as quantum computing and atmospheric sciences, AI. To put things in order and make it more understandable we have also developed a new concept. We call it DESI. Coming from Digitalisation, Education, Environment, Sustainability, and Innovation. With this concept, we are trying to make the portfolio more visible and more understandable what we are doing together. Next week, we will have a visit of the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Mr. Tavio, attending the 2nd CII India Nordic Baltic Business Conclave. He will also have bilateral meetings, and also, will then launch DESI, here in India. It was launched in Finland this September. 

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WION: How do you look at India, as a collective voice for Global South and African countries? 

Finland's Ambassador: India succeeded very well in hosting the G20, including the summit. It was really a worthwhile effort and also raised India's profile as a spokesperson for the Global South. I would congratulate India. Also, of course the membership of AU, which was also supported by the European Union, is an important indicator of the relevance of the African countries. I think that will also shape the agenda in the years to come.

WION: India and EU are vying to take forward the FTA negotiations. What is the current status and if agreed upon how it will benefit India and Finland? 

Finland's Ambassador: India and EU are strategic partners and we have many areas of cooperation and many mutual interests so starting from that point of view I think it is very important that we would also have an FTA, an Investment protection agreement, and an agreement on geographical indications. So all these free agreements would be important for mutual benefits. I think always, the negotiations for agreements need to reach a compromise that is really mutually beneficial. So that is the starting point. I think the EU wants to have ambitious agreements that would go beyond the existing multinational rules and for example our commitments at the WTO. So modern agreements will then be on important areas like market access government procurement and also digital trade.

We certainly had hoped that the negotiations could have been completed or could be completed by the end of this year. But as time goes by, it becomes more and more difficult to reach that goal. And there are still negotiations coming up in December I think. But if a breakthrough is not achieved, let's say by early next year, then I think the elections both in India and the EU will cause a delay in the negotiation process.

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WION: The Israel war going on in the West Asian region has raised concerns about the viability of the IMEC project. How do you see it? 

Finland's Ambassador: The project is a long-term project and it certainly has good logic behind it. So, I am still confident that the project has a lot of promise. But obviously, there has to be a resolution to the present conflict in the Middle East to enable the project to go forward. But in the long term, I am still very confident that it will have good potential.