India’s engagement with European countries has been particularly close with Finland’s leadership this year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Finnish PM Petteri Orpo during the Artificial Intelligence Summit, and President Alexander Stubb was the chief guest at the Ministry of External Affairs’ signature event, the Raisina Dialogue, in March in Delhi. In Oslo, Mr. Modi held bilateral talks with Mr. Orpo again, and then engaged with him at the Nordic-India summit this week. Mr. Modi, who has been intensifying his meetings with European leaders in Delhi, returned from a four-nation tour to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy on Thursday (May 21, 2026), and will return to Europe in June for the G-7 Summit, and a visit to Nice in France, as well as a bilateral visit to Slovakia. Later this year, sources say, the Prime Minister is expected to make another trip, to Brussels, for the signing of the India-EU FTA. Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the Nordic-India summit, Mr. Orpo said Finland hopes the India-EU FTA is ratified by all 27 countries, and is signed at the earliest. He also said that Finland, one of the last European countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2023, is still keen that Mr. Modi plays a role in ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Excerpts from the interview:
What are the areas you are focusing on as you plan to double India-Finland trade, which is at present just $1.5 billion?
I have had the honour to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi two times in three months, and we have had excellent discussions on how to deepen our cooperation. There’s so much potential that we decided to do more than double our outreach between our countries, and we have some areas, like digitalisation and sustainability, that we discussed during our meeting in Oslo.
Finland was a key driver of the India-EU FTA talks — how long could the ratification process take, and do European Union countries still want to renegotiate or expand negotiations?
The Free Trade Agreement between India and the EU is the latest of our trade agreements, and the European Council — all the leaders — were very happy and satisfied with this agreement. I am sure that we want to finalise it as soon as possible, and I have seen that, like the Finnish government, other EU countries have already started to look for possibilities to trade with India and Indian companies. So, I feel we should finalise it as soon as possible, but start immediately to work together.
Prime Minister Modi has just met with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, in Delhi. He is expected to travel to Moscow this year, and President Putin is expected to come to Delhi later this year for the BRICS summit. What are your expectations from India when it comes to the Ukraine conflict?
Yes, we discussed this very important issue, because the conflict in Ukraine is the biggest security threat to the whole of Europe, especially for Finland, because we are also a small neighbour country to Russia. I was very satisfied when Prime Minister Modi told that he has discussed [with] both President Putin and President Zelenskyy, that they have to go to the negotiation table and they need to find a solution [for] how to stop the war, and I really respect this, and I think that the Prime Minister has good relations with both of them, that he can push these negotiations forward.
You still think that’s a possibility? Four years into the war, we haven’t seen it end...
I am always optimistic. I cannot see a fast solution. For the first time, we feel Russia is tiring of the war. Ukraine is doing a very good job at this moment, and I think that now it’s time [for] Mr. Putin to go to the negotiation table and stop the war.
But Mr. Putin may not agree. In fact, the U.S. has agreed to extend its sanction waivers on Russian oil, now for third month. How do you respond to that?
Oil export is part of Putin’s war machine, and it’s clear that we are not satisfied that they are exporting oil, and at the same time [of] countries pumping money to the war machine. We believe the only way to push Putin to the negotiation table is to keep sanctions on and support Ukraine.
Did you discuss this with Prime Minister Modi? Was there a response?
We discussed this issue on a more general level, and I asked him to use his relations with Russia and Ukraine to stop the war.
Finland has only recently joined the NATO, and yet it looks like NATO is a house divided. Given U.S. President Donald Trump’s moves in the last few months, is there a rethink within Finland about the decision?
No, no, Finland is very committed to the NATO membership, and the support for membership is very high in Finland because we decided to join the NATO because Russia attacked Ukraine and Finnish people understood that now it’s time to join. On a practical level, as a member of the NATO, there are no changes in practice [due to President Trump’s actions], and I believe that NATO will continue its work, and it’s very important to keep the U.S. committed.
Watch:Why is Arctic Council important to India?
India is also a permanent observer at the Arctic Council. What kind of role would you like to see India playing in this region?
The Arctic Circle is a very important part of geopolitics, and it’s clear that India [is] involved in the Arctic Council. There is a lot that we can do together. Given the impact of climate change, we must have more scientific cooperation, study the situation there together.