Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said religious or national background was not such a big issue when asked whether it was appropriate to mention the religious affiliation of >Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai in their Nobel Peace Prize Citation.
Ms. Solberg was responding to a specific question from The Hindu whether it was appropriate to mention their religious background when millions of Muslims and Hindus lived together in India.
“The [Norwegian] Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism,” the citation for the Prize said.
The Nobel Committee, which is independent of the Norwegian government, has in the past made controversial choices like granting the Peace Prize to Barack Obama and the European Union in recent years.
However, the Norwegian government has faced the maximum fire for the actions of the Nobel Committee for granting the Peace Prize in 2010 to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, currently serving a jail term.
A senior Norwegian official told this writer that relations with China had been “frozen” by Beijing after the Prize for Mr. Liu was announced. “There have been no contacts since this decision was taken,” the official stated.
At a press conference, Prime Minister Solberg said even if Norway had flourishing ties with China it would have “stepped-up” cooperation with India.
She said that Norway viewed the re-emergence of Asia on the global stage as an opportunity for itself.
