New Delhi: Referring to the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark signed in September 2020, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla hoped that Denmark and India’s commitment to democratic values would lead to a stronger partnership in international fora. The Members of the Danish Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs, led by the Chairman of the Committee, Niels Fleming Hansen called on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at Parliament House, on Tuesday (April 17).
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Birla said that India is the largest democracy in the world and like Denmark, India is also a vibrant and mature democracy. Expressing the view that both countries support peace, democracy and human rights, Mr. Birla emphasized regular parliamentary exchanges between India and Denmark.
Mr. Birla suggested that a regular process of dialogue should be developed between India and Denmark to ensure that both Parliaments can learn from each other and share best practices.
In this context, Mr. Birla, referring to the visit of the Prime Minister of Denmark to India in 2021 and the visit of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi to Denmark last year, said that such high-level visits have further strengthened the relations between the two countries and they have given new vibrancy and robustness to bilateral relations.
Referring to the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark signed in September 2020, Mr. Birla said that this partnership has improved coordination between the two countries and hoped that this would result in increased bilateral trade and investment in the times to come.
Mr. Birla also said that while India is the 5th largest economy in the world today, there is plentiful potential for the two nations in areas of mutual interest such as global and regional security issues, trade and economic ties, research and innovation, and stronger people-to-people contact.
Mr. Birla informed the delegation that India has assumed the presidency of G-20 with the motto ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ and India’s fight against climate change will unite the entire world as one family. He hoped that Denmark and India’s commitment to democratic values would lead to a stronger partnership in international fora.
Mr. Birla informed the Danish delegation that India would also organize the P20 summit in the near future on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, which would be attended by the Presiding Officers of the Parliaments of other invited nations in addition to the G20 nations. He hoped that the Summit will see purposeful dialogue on the relevance of parliamentary governance and democratic values, which would serve to benefit the entire world.
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
