New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) Estonia’s Ambassador to India, Kristi Karelsohn, said on Wednesday that ties between both nations are in a “good shape” as everyone is eagerly looking forward to the signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU). Estonia, said Karelsohn, wants to further develop business ties and political cooperation with India in multilateral forums.
In an interview with IANS, Karelsohn described the business sector as the main priority for strengthening ties between India and Estonia. The two nations also exchange views on different geopolitical developments.
“I’ve been in India working as Estonian Ambassador for around seven weeks now and to my understanding these relations are really good. They are in really good shape, and particularly I think we have this new momentum now and a very exciting time because of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement that hopefully will be signed by the end of this year… For many countries, and also for Estonia, the main priority in India is business. It’s a large market and of course I want to further develop our business relations. But besides that, I think it’s also very important to continue talking to each other about political cooperation and our engagement in the multilateral forum and exchange our views on different geopolitical developments,” the diplomat mentioned.
Karelsohn emphasised that India and Estonia believe in preserving multilateralism and the rules-based international order. She also mentioned how India followed a long-term policy of non-alignment, while it is important for Estonia to remain part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
“One of my priorities would definitely be also sharing our views on different geopolitical developments. What I see Estonia and India are like-minded in or we are sharing the view of preserving multilateralism and the rules-based international order and the background for that thinking may be quite different. For, India it has been this long-term policy of non-alignment, belonging to any political blocks. For Estonia, it’s been different. For us, it’s been extremely important to become a member of the transatlantic alliance, NATO, and also the European Union and all that.
“But, for us it’s very, very important to see that those rules that have been commonly agreed upon are implemented and followed by all the countries in the world and especially now seeing one country, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, violating that rule and attacking its smaller neighbour is something that is very concerning for us. So, for example, I see the opportunity here to work together to support each other’s goals and work together in that domain,” she added.
Highlighting the strengthening ties between India and Estonia in the past six months, Kristi Karelsohn also spoke about the high-level visits between both nations. Then-Estonian President Alar Karis visited New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit in February this year, during which, he met Indian leaders. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s recent visit to Estonia with a huge business delegation, has also been described as highly successful. The Estonian Minister for Justice and Digitalisation also visited India for the Mobile Congress.
–IANS
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