India key partner, Estonia will be ‘very happy’ if PM Modi visits: FM
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has called for more high-level visits from India to deepen bilateral ties and said Estonia would be “very happy” if Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the northern European country.
In an exclusive interview with PTI, Tsahkna said Estonia is organising the Ukraine recovery conference in 2027 and hoped that India could also be part of the rebuilding process of the war-hit country.
“India is a very important partner for Estonia. Our scales are totally different, from 1.3 million people (Estonian population) to 1.4 billion (Indian population). India is also the largest democracy in the world.
Our president (Alar Karis) was in India in February for the AI summit. Our bilateral relations are increasing in business terms,” the Estonian foreign minister told PTI. “Be it the defence industry, IT, or AI solutions, Estonia is the perfect place for investments.
We have the E-residency programme through which Indian companies and people can become E-residents and be a part of our brilliant startup environment. “I see the economic growth of India and also the leadership of the Indian Government on economic development, which is something our companies are very much interested in,” Tsahkna said.
The E-residency programme grants foreign nationals a secure Government-issued digital identity. This allows entrepreneurs to establish and manage an EU-based company entirely online, streamlining processes like document signing, banking, and tax filing from anywhere in the world. The minister said there is significant potential for expanding bilateral ties. “We see the global trend, India is playing more and more a leading role in the region. Estonia is the gateway for Indian companies to the EU markets. So both sides are interested,” he said.
Asked whether more high-level visits are needed to strengthen ties and if Prime Minister Modi could visit Estonia in the future, Tsahkna said his country would warmly welcome such a visit.
“Estonia would be very happy if PM Modi comes to the country. We would welcome his excellency warmly, and also the Foreign Minister (S Jaishankar) is welcome. The more high-level visits to Estonia, the better,” he said. There has so far been no prime ministerial visit from India to Estonia.
Tsahkna said Estonia is keen to receive Indian business delegations along with political leaders.
“We expect them to come with business delegations because we can open many gates and many doors to them and guarantee that they would be welcome... I am expecting as many high-level meetings from India as possible,” he said.
Bilateral trade in goods between the two countries stood at 139.3 million euros in 2025, while trade in services was valued at 66.4 million euros last year.
