India-Denmark relations growing by day, Copenhagen supports permanent UNSC seat for India: Envoy Kristensen

By Vaishnavi Rastogi
New Delhi [India], September 26 (ANI): Denmark’s Ambassador to India Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen on Friday said Denmark supports a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), adding that Copenhagen has made its position clear on the matter on several occasions.
He further said Denmark looked forward to India joining the Council.
Speaking to ANI, Kristensen said, “We actually support a permanent seat for India in the Security Council, which we have made very clear on numerous occasions. And of course, now we have spent the past 2 years in the Security Council, and we are very much looking forward to India hopefully joining." 
Kristensen said the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will further strengthen economic ties between the two countries and create more opportunities for businesses from both sides.
He said bilateral ties were already strong and growing, with more than 250 Danish companies currently present in India across manufacturing, capability centres and joint research and development.
"The ties are strong, and they are actually growing by the day. We have more than 250 Danish companies present today in India with manufacturing, capability centers, joint R&D, what have you. Danish companies employ well over 100,000 people here in India. But of course, the FTA will further enable that trajectory. We'll see more Danish companies coming here to invest, but we'll also see Indian companies being able to export to Denmark and vice versa. So this will be a win-win for both countries," he further said. 
Kristensen said people-to-people ties between the two countries are growing stronger, with Indian professionals, students and cultural influences contributing to Denmark’s society.
Speaking about the growing presence of Indians in Denmark, Kristensen said Indian citizens have migrated to the country for work and education and have become an important part of Danish society.
“The people-to-people ties are growing ever stronger, and part of the reason for that is that we also have a lot of Indian citizens in Denmark now. People have migrated to Denmark for work or study. It's the fastest-growing migrant group in Denmark, and of course these Indian people also bring their culture to Denmark,” he told ANI.
He highlighted that Copenhagen now has more than 150 Indian restaurants and said the Indian community also brings music and cultural diversity to Denmark.
“They are treasured citizens of our country,” he added.
On Denmark’s recently approved collective agreement-based work permit scheme that includes Indian professionals, Kristensen said the move would make it easier for Indian talent to work in Denmark.
“We already have a strong presence of Indian talent in Denmark working for Danish companies. And of course this will make it even easier,” he said.
He added that Denmark’s strong economy and growing demand for skilled professionals in areas such as software and engineering have created opportunities for Indian talent.
“Danish companies are looking for talent, whether it's in software, engineering or any other profession. And Indians are very treasured employees,” he said.
Speaking about India-Denmark cooperation in sustainability, agriculture, energy and water sectors, Kristensen said the partnership has resulted in practical outcomes, including projects under India’s Jal Jeevan Mission.
“Just last week I was in Uttar Pradesh looking at some of the water projects that we have been supporting under the Jal Jeevan Mission. And it’s really fantastic to see people now having clean drinking water as a result of, partly as a result of a cooperation between the Government of India and my government,” he said. (ANI)