New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) The Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav, and his Finnish counterpart Sari Multala on Thursday renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on environmental cooperation between India and Finland at a meeting held in the national capital.

In a post on social media platform X, Yadav said he was happy to note that India had renewed the MoU signed in 2020, deepening cooperation on pollution prevention and control, waste management, climate change, forests and natural resource management through knowledge and technology cooperation.

The renewed MoU will continue to provide a structured framework for collaboration and exchange of best practices between the two countries on the prevention and control of air and water pollution (including remediation of contaminated soil); waste management (including hazardous waste, waste-to-energy and recycling); circular economy and low-carbon solutions in the use of natural resources and forests; climate change mitigation and adaptation; environmental and forest monitoring (including data management); and conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources and integrated water resources management.

The two sides also discussed the opportunities for collaboration on the circular economy, through focused dialogue and joint initiatives.

Sari Multala is part of the ministerial delegation accompanying Finnish President Alexander Stubb on his current visit to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held bilateral talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb at Hyderabad House, with both leaders agreeing to expand cooperation in areas such as digitalisation, sustainability, clean energy, quantum computing and semiconductors, while also deepening engagement in defence and space.

Addressing a joint press statement after the talks, PM Modi said India and Finland have decided to shape their bilateral ties into a strategic partnership focused on digitalisation and sustainability, which will accelerate collaboration across high-technology sectors.

PM Modi said trusted partnerships between democratic countries such as India and Finland will help ensure reliable technology ecosystems and resilient global supply chains.

–IANS

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