Iceland's envoy to India Benedikt Hoskuldsson has appreciated the Indian government's initiatives towards promoting gender parity and empowerment and said his nation is looking forward to further deepen cooperation with New Delhi in this sector.

In an interview with ANI, Ambassador Hoskuldsson said, “We take gender very seriously, it’s a part of our identity and our society.”

He said that he observed in India that gender is a very important part of the society.

“We all need to strive for better equality," he told ANI.

“I am very proud and happy to be here. India is doing very good work on the issue of gender, and we would like to support them in this," he said.

“Iceland and India and other countries can work together in achieving what we need to achieve because gender equality is a human issue. We need to empower all humans. We have to give everybody this chance,” he said.

India-Iceland diplomatic relations were established in 1972 and resident missions were opened in New Delhi in February 2006 and in Reykjavik in August 2008.