New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Bulgaria and Finland from June 10-11, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Jaishankar will visit Bulgaria on June 10, where he is expected to meet the Bulgarian leadership and hold discussions with his counterpart on bilateral and global issues of mutual interest.

The EAM will then visit Finland on June 11, where he will participate in the 14th edition of the Kultaranta Talks. This year's edition will be held on the theme 'A World in Transition: Global, Regional and Local Perspectives'. During the visit, he will also hold meetings with his Finnish counterpart and other senior leadership, as per the statement by the MEA.

Relations between India and Bulgaria are longstanding, warm and friendly. The two countries, which happen to be ancient civilisations, are proud of their glorious cultural heritage. People-to-people contacts and cultural links between the two countries predate the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1954 and there are traces of contacts between the peoples of the two countries as early as the 8th Century AD.

India and Finland also share traditionally warm and friendly relations. In recent years, the bilateral partnership has expanded in areas such as research, innovation and investment cooperation. The Indian community in Finland is described as vibrant and well-integrated, while Indian culture and yoga continue to enjoy significant popularity in the country.

Finland appointed its resident Ambassador to India in 1949, and its Embassy in New Delhi was the first Asian mission established by the Nordic country. India opened its Embassy in Helsinki in 1968. Finland currently maintains Honorary Consulates in Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and also opened a Consulate in Mumbai in November 2022, with the first Consul General assuming office on January 1, 2023, a statement by the MEA said.

In 2022, India's total trade (goods and services) with Finland stood at EUR 3.0 billion, with a trade surplus in India's favour. Goods trade that year was valued at EUR 1,401 million, with Indian exports at EUR 765 million and imports from Finland at EUR 637 million. This reflected an impressive growth of 45.5 per cent over the 2021 figure of EUR 956 million, indicating strengthening trade ties. Trade in services reached EUR 1,650 million in 2022, up from EUR 1,245 million in 2021. Trade data till September 2023 (goods and services) showed a stable trend of around EUR 2,315 million, the MEA added. (ANI)