Denmark‘s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has termed her visit to India as a milestone for relations between the two countries. Frederiksen was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday. Frederiksen is the first head of state visiting India since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place since last March. Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a visit to India to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in order to remain in Britain to focus on his government’s response to a new coronavirus variant that was spreading rapidly at the time.

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Johnson called off a planned visit to India in April amid the second wave of the coronavirus in the country.

Frederiksen said Denmark considers India as a Frederiksen. Frederiksen and Modi will holds talks today and the two sides are expected to discuss a wide range of issues including climate, energy, water and green financing.

Frederiksen also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat.

During her visit from October 9 to 11, the Danish Prime Minister will call on President Ram Nath Kovind and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She will also interact with think tanks, students, and members of civil society during her three-day visit.

In September last year, India and Denmark elevated their relations to a “green strategic partnership” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s virtual summit with Frederiksen.

The issue of Danish national Kim Davy’s extradition had also come up for discussion during the summit. Davy is the main accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case related to the dropping of arms and ammunition by an AN-26 aircraft in West Bengal’s Purulia district on the night of December 17, 1995. In 2012, diplomatic ties between the two countries hit an all-time low after Danish officials refused to appeal in the Supreme Court against a lower court’s order barring Davy’s extradition to India.