Piyush Goyal concludes historic Norway visit, focuses on strengthening trade ties
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal concludes Norway visit.
Synopsis Piyush Goyal's visit to Norway, the first by an Indian Commerce Minister in over 25 years, aimed to strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations. Discussions with Norwegian leaders focused on enhancing trade under the India-EFTA TEPA, exploring new cooperation opportunities, and fostering innovation-led growth. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has concluded his visit to Norway, marking the first such visit by an Indian Commerce Minister in over 25 years.
ADVERTISEMENT The visit focused on strengthening bilateral trade and economic relations, with key engagements involving Norway's political and business leadership.
In a social media post shared on Thursday, Goyal said, "Concluded my productive visit to Norway, the first by a Commerce and Industry Minister from India in over 25 years. My engagements with the political and business leadership in the country give me immense confidence that our ties are set to enter a new phase of trust and growth."
During his visit, Goyal met Cecilie Myrseth, Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry. The two leaders held discussions on enhancing trade relations in line with the recently signed India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). They also explored new opportunities to boost bilateral cooperation in various sectors.Goyal also had the honour of visiting the Norwegian Parliament - Stortinget - where he interacted with distinguished members. The discussions focused on enhancing India-Norway trade ties and exchanging views on shared democratic values and people-centric governance.The minister said "It was an honour to visit the Norwegian Parliament - Stortinget and interact with some of the distinguished members. Had an extensive discussion on enhancing India-Norway trade and economic ties. We also exchanged views on our strong democratic traditions and commitment to development, rooted in people-centric governance".
ADVERTISEMENT A key highlight of the visit was the co-chairing of the Norway-India Business Executive Roundtable, alongside Minister Myrseth.The roundtable centered on expanding economic cooperation, fostering innovation-led growth, and exploring collaborations to deepen business engagement between the two nations.
ADVERTISEMENT The Minister also interacted with the India-Norway business community at the 'Innovation Norway' centre. He spoke about India's improved Ease of Doing Business, a favourable investment climate, and the country's leadership in global talent and technology.He also highlighted the investment opportunities under TEPA and encouraged Norwegian businesses to explore the growing Indian market.
ADVERTISEMENT In another engagement, Goyal participated in a panel discussion with leading Norwegian investors. He discussed investment prospects in India's capital markets and emphasized the potential of GIFT City as a new global financial hub.He positioned GIFT City as a gateway for global investors amid the changing economic landscape.
Goyal's visit is expected to lay the foundation for deeper commercial engagement between India and Norway, opening up new avenues for trade, investment, and innovation.
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.
NEXT STORY
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
20 minutes ago
- Time of India
SC junks Pakistani Christian's plea for citizenship ignoring CAA cut-off
Supreme Court NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain the plea of a Goa-born Pakistani Catholic man, who sought a direction to the Centre to allow him citizenship under Citizenship Amendment Act , 2019 citing religious persecution in Pakistan even though he arrived in India six years after the Jan 2014 cutoff date. Jude Mendes, who was born in Goa to a Pakistani national in 1987 but completed his studies at Karachi in Pakistan, arrived in India in 2016 on a long-term visa which has been extended till June this year and even got his Aadhaar card made in 2020. He married an Indian woman in February this year. Three days after the Pahalgam terror attack on tourists by Pak-backed terrorists, India on April 25 cancelled all kinds of visas given to Pakistani nationals. However, long term visas, which Mendes has, have not been revoked. Mendes' visa expires on June 20. Advocate Raghav Awasthi told a partial working day bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan that "the Petitioner is born in India and is a Roman Catholic which being a minority community is heavily persecuted in Pakistan. He cannot travel to Pakistan to renew his passport which is expiring on 20.06.2025 due to the threat to his life and that therefore, he ought to be granted extension of his long-term visa. " The petitioner said in the event of his deportation to Pakistan, the petitioner who was born in India and now lawfully married to an Indian citizen, would face imminent threat to his life because of extreme religious persecution in Pakistan. At present he works as a chef in Goa. But the bench said that he would have to move the Bombay HC for the relief he is seeking. The petitioner's lawyer withdrew the plea to move the HC. Under CAA, India had resolved to grant citizenship to those individuals from minority communities who have been persecuted in neighbouring countries on the ground of religion. However, the law stipulated that they should have entered India prior to Jan 1, 2014.
Time of India
26 minutes ago
- Time of India
How Manusmriti Will Guide DU Students
New Delhi: Students in Delhi University will now be taught how the varna or caste system organises society, how marriage helps build a "civilised" social order, and how morals regulate individual behaviour. These lessons form the core of a new Sanskrit course titled Dharmashastra Studies, which has Manusmriti as a primary text. Manusmriti, whose proposal for inclusion in the law and history honours syllabus was earlier held back by the administration amid backlash, has made a comeback, this time as essential reading in this discipline-specific course. Alongside it, other Hindu religious texts that had drawn similar objections, such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas, have also been included in this course. The paper, introduced as a core course under the discipline in the current academic session, carries four credits and is open to undergraduate students with working knowledge of Sanskrit. DSC or Discipline Specific Core refers to courses within a student's chosen field of study that are mandatory for their programme. According to the stated objective of the course, "Ancient Indian society, in terms of whole and its parts, has been depicted in the texts compiled in Sanskrit known as 'Dharmashastra'. The 'Dharmashastra Studies' course aims to make students acquainted with the rich tradition of Indian Social, Political, Economical, Legal thoughts." Regarding the learning outcomes for the course, DU says that "students will know that Indians were not anarchic, they evolved well-structured society where normative institutions were established. They will understand the real meaning of the term 'Dharma'. Students will find the great aim for the life of an individual. They will be acquainted with Indian methods of regularising Society." The course is divided into four units. Unit I, titled "Concept of Dharma", covers how society was structured through normative institutions in ancient India. It will explore "Dharma as a normative and ethical element" and includes a survey of key texts such as the Sutra and Smriti literature, commentaries, the Kautilya Arthashastra, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. Unit II delves into the content of Dharmashastra, which is categorised into Achara, Vyavahara and Prayashchitta. The unit introduces students to the concept of Achara or behavioural codes — focusing on how the varna and ashrama systems organise society and individual life, how marriage and education contributed to a "civilised" order, and how practices like yajna and daana helped build social cohesion. Unit III is focused on Vyavahara and polity. It explains the ancient Indian legal system, including types of disputes, civil and criminal law, courts and evidence procedures. It also discusses governance structures such as monarchies, qualifications of rulers and ministers, and political theories like the Mandala theory and Shadgunya. Unit IV covers Prayashchitta, or penance. It includes lessons on different types of sins and prescribed penances like fasting, donation (daana), ritual sacrifices (yajna), pilgrimages, and post-death rites like shraddha. Primary readings for the course include texts such as Apastamba Dharmasutra, Boudhayana Dharmasutra, Vashistha Dharmasutra, Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Narada Smriti, and the Kautilya Arthashastra. This canon of ancient Hindu religious and philosophical texts — particularly the Manusmriti — has long been the subject of academic and public debate for its social prescriptions, especially concerning caste and gender. Last year in July, Delhi University vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh rejected the proposal to include Manusmriti and Baburnama (Memoirs of Babur) in the university's history curriculum. The university also stated that no such proposals will be entertained in the future. TOI reached out to Om Nath Bimali, head of the department of Sanskrit, to seek his comment on the inclusion of Manusmriti but did not receive any response. A request seeking vice-chancellor Singh's reaction also did not elicit any response.
New Indian Express
38 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Why patriotism is no substitute for morality
Articulating such issues in the language of everyday ethics is not easy. However, with the use of metaphor and storytelling, our moralists need to do so. Democracy, in that sense, is always a futuristic framework which has to be built into the choices we make today. Every choice now is one for the future. India, if it wishes to remain democratic and survive beyond majoritarianism, must consider a more supple, unconventional and innovative democracy. Let's take an example. The great Nicobar project has been a source of tremendous controversy. Indian environmentalists and journals have assembled a formidable critique of it. Yet, after the Pahalgam incident, these environmentalists are treated as anti-social and antinational. Today, within the national security state, not only have external and internal security been combined, but also war and development. The Great Nicobar project is now viewed as a military initiative aimed at countering China. It is China, more than Pakistan, that is a threat to democracy. China has even fewer problems with genocide. One has to open up new dialogues and perspectives on China. One of the most critical and urgent problems we will face is a set of dams China is building above the Northeast. These dams can annihilate the economy of the Northeast and become a tool for ecocide. The challenge is how to dialogue with China on such a critical issue that involves the life, livelihood and fate of marginal groups on both sides of the border. The question is about handling such issues democratically. The problemsolving faces new problems of the future that we have not thought about as a polity. In this context, one has to rethink the importance of peace and Gandhian thought. Gandhi did not spend time thinking about either the concentration camp or the atomic bomb—those are the limits his idea of satyagraha has to meet. We are facing not just mechanical obsolescence, but more a genocidal exuberance. India has to rework itself as a civilisation. Reinvent itself as a democracy. Its current frameworks, though successful thus far, may not survive in the future. We need to talk to China differently. We need to create a politics that transcends the Trumps. We need to create a vision of South Asia that goes beyond the current frameworks of the United Nations. Peace can no longer be a restricted, passive word—it has to invent possibilities, alternatives that go beyond the immediacy of war. This is democracy's greatest challenge: to invent a future where peace remains central to the visions of South Asia and the world. Shiv Visvanathan is a social scientist associated with the Compost Heap, a group researching alternative imaginations. (Views are personal) (svcsds@
