Iceland–India relations are the

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Historically, these relations have been friendly but lacked substantive content. Iceland and India established diplomatic relations in 1972. At that time the embassy of Iceland in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

was accredited to India and the embassy of India in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, was accredited to Iceland. Embassies were established in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

in 2005 and in Reykjavík in 2006.

History

Iceland and India established diplomatic relations in 1975. The embassy of Iceland in London, United Kingdom was accredited to India and the embassy of India in Oslo, Norway, was accredited to Iceland. However, it was only after 2005 that the two countries began to strengthen their diplomatic and economic relationships. In 2005,

President of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as ...

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 to 2016.Official CV. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minist ...

made the first visit by an Icelandic President to India. During the visit, Iceland pledged support for India's candidature for a permanent seat at the United Nation Security Council, thus becoming the first Nordic country to do so. This was followed by an official visit by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

to Iceland in May 2005. Following this a new embassy of Iceland was opened in New Delhi on 12 February 2006. Soon, an

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

team visited Iceland on friendly mission.

Gunnar Pálsson Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

is the incumbent ambassador of Iceland to India. India appointed S. Swaminathan as the first resident ambassador to Iceland in March 2008.

Economic relations

Iceland

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

ed goods to India amounting to

US $ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.14 million in 2007. The main item of export were

fish products Fish and fish products are consumed as food all over the world. With other seafoods, they provides the world's prime source of high-quality protein; 14–16 percent of the animal protein consumed worldwide. Over one billion people rely on fish a ...

, primarily

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

, amounting to 77% of the total exports. Other items included industrial goods and medical products. India exported US$18.95 million worth of goods to Iceland in the same year, in which consumer goods were the largest with 52.5% of total exports, followed by raw materials at 37.8%. The trade between the two countries is still considered limited, but with growth potential. By 2007, total bilateral trade was US$26.7 million of which imports from India were US$25.1 million and exports to India were US$1.6 million.

Agreements

India and Iceland signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement to strengthen the ties of economic cooperation. The treaty covers the taxes of income,

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...

s, interest, royalties and fees for technical services and stipulates that the rate of tax in the country where the income was made must not be higher than 10%. The two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in the

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

sector. Iceland and India cooperate in hydrogen cells and

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...

s under the forum of International Partnership for Hydrogen Economy. Both countries have also signed a MoU for studies of anomalies ahead of

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s. In 2007, both states also signed an MoU on Sustainable Fisheries Development and a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iceland-India Relations Bilateral relations of India