New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) Highlighting India’s growing importance as a key strategic partner for Europe, Finland President Alexander Stubb on Thursday stated that the country has emerged as one of the world’s largest and most influential nations.

Stubb also commended Indian foreign policy for its pragmatic and realistic outlook, stressing that the country has shown the world how strategic caution and safeguarding autonomy can go hand in hand with a commitment to multilateralism and global cooperation.

Addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Stubb said, “India obviously is one of the world’s largest and most influential countries and the world’s largest democracy. As we have seen, you are now a key strategic partner for Europe. Its importance in foreign and security policy and trade policies is difficult to overstate. You are one of the fastest-growing economies in the world that we can witness here every day.”

“And, what I really respect about your foreign policy is that you have never been under illusions. You have always based your foreign policy on a pragmatic and realistic worldview. You have shown the rest of the world that strategic caution and safeguarding autonomy mean a lot, all the while championing multilateralism and global cooperation. And I believe personally that we should all become a little bit more Indian,” he added.

The Finnish President expressed that it would be an honour to attend the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi alongside PM Modi, highlighting the forum’s remarkable growth over the past decade into a major global platform for significant discussions, especially during the changing world order.

“It’s an honour for me to open the Raisina Dialogues today together with the Prime Minister. It’s amazing to see the growth of Raisina in only ten years. It’s become one of the key set pieces where everyone in the world is listening and watching what is happening at Raisina, when the world is so turbulent. The world is changing. We are living through a transition in the global order, and India, together with its friends in the Global South, will determine the direction in which this order will go,” he stated.

Stubb further said that he would urge for reforms in the multilateral system during the Raisina Dialogue, while emphasising the importance of India in securing a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

“Today, in my speech at Raisina, I will once again call for a change in the multilateral system, where the division of labour and power would reflect today’s world. Therefore, I think a seat in the UN Security Council for India is of utmost importance,” the Finnish President stressed.

Stubb highlighted that discussions with PM Modi also focused on India and the European Union ties, describing the recently forged trade agreement and the strategic partnership between the two sides of great significance.

“When the world is in transition – the United States, Russia, China, and many others – the fact that we can have a values- and interest-based partnership between the European Union and India is very important,” he noted.

–IANS

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