Tag: iceland

Categories
-Top News India News World News

Iceland, India discuss future cooperation

The two sides agreed to hold the next round of foreign office consultations at a mutually convenient time in Reykjavi…reports Asian Lite News

India and Iceland held their 3rd Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in New Delhi on Monday to review different facets of their long-standing bilateral relationship which completed 50 years in 2022.

The Indian delegation was led by Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, while the Iceland delegation was headed by Martin Eyjólfsson, Permanent Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both sides comprehensively reviewed the status of relations in all fields, including political, trade and investments, India-EFTA-TEPA negotiations, fisheries, geothermal cooperation, capacity building, cultural relations and people-to-people contacts.

Additionally, detailed discussions were held on the future direction of cooperation, including in the multilateral fora particulary the UN.

The FOC provided an opportunity to exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest including developments in the neighbourhoods of India and Iceland, EU, Ukraine conflict, the Arctic and gender issues, the MEA added.

The two sides agreed to hold the next round of foreign office consultations at a mutually convenient time in Reykjavik.

India and Iceland have enjoyed close and friendly relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations in 1972. They have had regular exchanges at both political and official levels.

Over the years, India has seen Iceland as a major partner in the Arctic region, and the two countries have developed strong ties in various fields.

ALSO READ: Indo-France Joint Military Exercise Frinjex-2023 to commence

Categories
News World World News

Icelandic ruling coalition starts new term with climate agenda

Icelandic ruling coalition starts new term with climate agenda

The coalition parties have 37 members in the country’s 63-seat parliament and the government program highlighted climate issues…reports Asian Lite News

Iceland’s new government leadership was announced at a press conference. Katrin Jakobsdottir of the Left-Green Movement continues as the Prime Minister in a renewed term of the three-party coalition with the Independence Party and the Progressive Party.

Icelandic ruling coalition starts new term with climate agenda

The coalition parties have 37 members in the country’s 63-seat parliament and the government program highlighted climate issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iceland is to set an independent national target of a 55 per cent reduction in emissions of its direct responsibility by 2030 compared to 2005. The island country is to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2040 and would be “the first state independent of fossil fuels,” Icelandic national broadcaster RUV reported.

ALSO READ: Indigenous Australians given say on new cultural protection laws

“There must be agreement on new power plants to build a green and carbon-neutral society. The most important thing is that this is done with caution towards the sensitive nature of the country and in line with growing energy consumption in parallel with the phasing out of fossil fuels,” RUV quoted the government program.

The Icelandic Parliamentary elections took place on September 25. The final confirmation of the election result was delayed until this past week and the new parliament could not convene until last week.

Categories
-Top News Europe

Iceland elects Europe’s first women-majority parliament

In Europe, Sweden and Finland have 47% and 46% women in parliament, respectively. “Iceland is yet again leading the way on gender equality!” the UK ambassador to Iceland, Bryony Mathew, said on Twitter…reports Asian Lite News.

Iceland has voted more women than men into its parliament, a first in Europe, in a national election that saw the ruling left-right coalition strengthen its majority, final results showed on Sunday.
Thirty-three women were voted into the 63-seat parliament in Saturday’s election, up from 24 in the last election. Iceland, a North Atlantic island of 371,000 people, was ranked the most gender-equal country in the world for the 12th year running in a World Economic Forum (WEF) report released in March.

“In a historical and international light, the most significant news is that women are now first time in majority in the Icelandic parliament, and a first in Europe. This is good news,” President Gudni Johannesson told broadcaster RUV.

Only three other countries – Rwanda, Cuba and Nicaragua – have more women than men in parliament, while Mexico and the United Arab Emirates have an exact 50/50 split, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

In Europe, Sweden and Finland have 47% and 46% women in parliament, respectively. “Iceland is yet again leading the way on gender equality!” the UK ambassador to Iceland, Bryony Mathew, said on Twitter.
“Fantastic!” Opinion polls had forecast the governing coalition would fall short of a majority but a surge in support for the centre-right Progressive Party, which won five more seats than in 2017, pushed its total count to 37 seats, according to state broadcaster RUV.

The current government, which consists of Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir’s Left-Green Movement, the conservative Independence Party and the Progressive Party, said before the election that they would negotiate continued cooperation if they held their majority.
President Johannesson said he would not hand a mandate to form a new government to any party, but would await coalition talks between the three parties.

The Independence Party again became the biggest in parliament with 16 seats, unchanged from the last election.
Party leader and former Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson said he was optimistic that the three parties could form a coalition and he would not demand to lead a new government, RUV reported.
The Left-Green Movement got eight seats, down from 11 in the 2017 election, although two parliamentarians left the party shortly after the last election.

ALSO READ-Panama leaks spark protest in Iceland

READ MORE-UK launches visa scheme for truck drivers to meet supply crisis