Narendra Modi makes a business trip to Nordic free-trade bastion

The last thing that the export-oriented Nordics need from the world's biggest economies is more protectionism

Narendra Modi can expect an earful on the benefits of free trade when he visits Stockholm for a summit with Nordic peers already rattled by the sound of Donald Trump’s protectionist war-drums.

The first ever joint meeting between the prime ministers of India, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden comes at a critical juncture for the global economy, with the European Union still trying to figure out if it will obtain a permanent exemption from U.S. tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.

Modi for his part, has been sending conflicting messages about his free trade credentials: Having declared at the World Economic