New Delhi (NVI): India and Finland inked an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries, an official said.
The MoU on co-operation in the field of production, procurement, research and development of defence related equipment and industrial cooperation, has been inked on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue 2020.
It was signed by the Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Ministry of Defence of Finland Permanent Secretary Jukka Juusti.
Under the broad ambit of the MoU, cooperation between Finnish companies and Indian defence public sector undertakings could be explored.
A draft of this MoU was under discussion since the DefExpo 2018 and has now been formalised in the run up to DefExpo 2020 which to be held in Lucknow , Uttar Pradesh between February 5-9, 2020.
In 2019, Juusti had led a delegation to Aero India in Bengaluru and post his visit, the Permanent Secretary had evinced their interest to participate in the ‘Make in India’ vision and formalise an arrangement for Defence Industrial cooperation through an MoU.
On February 13, 2016, Prime Minister of Finland Juha Sipila had bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India for the inauguration of the ‘Make in India’ week.
On April 17, 2018, Prime Minister Modi held a bilateral meeting with Sipila during the first India-Nordic Summit in Stockholm, Sweden.
A delegation from Finland had also visited India between November 29 – December 02, 2018 to explore new business opportunities for Finnish companies.
