President Mukherjee to be first Indian leader to cross Arctic Circle

President Mukherjee New Delhi, Oct 10 : President Pranab Mukherjee, during his upcoming trip to the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Finland, will become the first Indian President to cross the Arctic Circle.

"President Mukherjee is scheduled to visit the town Rovaniemi in Finland and by doing so, will become the first Indian President to cross the Arctic Circle," said Navtej Sarna, Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs, while interacting with the media here on Friday.

Discussing the President's itinerary, Sarna first talked of the first leg of President Mukherjee's trip. He said, "President Mukherjee will leave for Norway on October 12 and he will be given a ceremonial welcome at the Royal Palace in Oslo the next day. He will visit the Akershus Fortress in the city and then is scheduled to visit the Norwegian parliament, where he will meet the president of the parliament."

"During his trip to Norway, President Mukherjee will also speak to scientists who are posted in Himadri Station in Spitsbergen, India's permanent research base in the Arctic. The President will also speak to several Indian companies that are present in Norway and will look to attract Norwegian investors to India. He will also meet members of the Indian community in Norway," Sarna added.

Next, speaking of President Mukherjee's visit of Finland, Sarna said, "The President will leave for Finland on October 14 at night and will be in that country till October 16. The mayor of Finland's capital, Helsinki, will host a lunch for President Mukherjee. He will also meet with a business delegation and the Indian community present there."

"Later, President Mukherjee will visit Finland's parliament and will be meeting the speaker of the parliament. He will also visit the Hietaniemi Cemetery, which is the place where Finland honours its soldiers who fought in World War II, and will lay a wreath there," Sarna added.

India and Norway enjoy a cordial and friendly relationship. The two countries respect each other for their commonly shared values such as democracy, human rights and rule of law. In recent years, both countries have been increasingly tapping their bilateral economic and technical complementarities. Indo-Norwegian bilateral ties are marked by regular exchanges of high level visits between the two countries.

Finland and India have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations. Finland sees in India a large market for its products and a favourable investment destination for its high technology industries whereas India views Finland as an important member of the EU and a repository of modern technology. (ANI)