Iceland Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir drew attention to the word “sambandh” during the India-Nordic Summit 2026 on Tuesday, highlighting its shared
meaning in both Hindi and several Nordic languages. Speaking alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Frostadóttir said she was particularly struck by the word’s emotional and linguistic connection between India and Iceland. “We’ve seen through the free trade agreements that Prime Minister Modi addressed an increase in investment coming from Iceland into India. There are so many things we can do together,” she said. “I just have to address, I love that word ‘sambandh’. This is such a purely Icelandic word, and people will be very devoted to this language, Prime Minister Modi, because this is what people need. They need more ‘sambandh’ today,” she added.
#WATCH | Oslo | At joint press conference by Nordic PMs, Prime Minister of Iceland, Kristrún Frostadóttir says, " I had my first bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi this morning, which was a very exciting meeting for us because we have such a good story to tell between… pic.twitter.com/Lap0qoQAtE
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2026
Earlier during his address, Modi had pointed out how the word “sambandh”, meaning connection, relationship or bond, carries a similar meaning in Hindi as well as in several Nordic languages.
“Today, I used the word ‘sambandh’ many times. In several Nordic languages, the word ‘sambandh’ means connection, relations, a bond. In Hindi too, ‘sambandh’ carries the same meaning,” Modi said.
“This is not just a similarity of words, it reflects the closeness of our thoughts. Let us deepen the bonds between us in every field and make the India-Nordic partnership a model of shared prosperity, innovation and a sustainable future,” he added.
The summit brought together leaders from India and Nordic nations including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to discuss deeper cooperation in areas such as sustainability, climate action, innovation and advanced technologies.
