Context: PM Modi visited Oslo on May 18-19 for the third India-Nordic Summit. India-Nordic engagement began in Stockholm (2018) and continued in Copenhagen (2022). The earlier summits focused on climate cooperation, digitalisation and the blue economy.
New Geopolitical Reality
- The war in Ukraine has fundamentally transformed Europe’s security order significantly.
- Strains within the trans-Atlantic alliance have unsettled long-standing strategic assumptions.
- Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession has rewired Nordic security architecture completely.
- Russia remains the Arctic Council’s sole non-NATO member after Nordic accessions.
- Russia-China Arctic partnership has acquired a polar dimension through energy and shipping cooperation.
Role of the Arctic
- The Arctic is emerging as a theatre of competition over shipping routes and critical minerals.
- Arctic is warming three times faster than the global average is a serious concern.
- Barents-Kara Sea ice loss has been linked to variability in India’s summer monsoon.
- New technologies like autonomous underwater vehicles are reshaping Arctic security dynamics.
- Vulnerabilities in undersea cables and critical infrastructure are growing considerably in the region.
Impact on India
- In Favour
- India joined Arctic Council as observer in 2013, giving it legitimate stakeholder status.
- India operates Himadri station, IndARC observatory and Gruvebadet laboratory in Norway.
- Extending Chennai-Vladivostok corridor to Murmansk would connect India with Northern Europe.
- Nordic nations offer technology, capital and expertise without imposing hegemonic pressures on India.
- Nordic strengths in semiconductors, AI and batteries complement India’s manufacturing ambitions well.
- Challenges
- Science alone cannot safeguard Indian interests in a geopolitically contested Arctic region.
- India lacks a Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs, unlike other four Asian observer states.
- Delay in building Arctic-capable ice-class tankers risks losing early-mover shipping advantages.
- Rising polar melt threatens India’s coastline, ports and island territories through sea-level rise.
- Cooperation must move beyond buyer-seller arrangements towards co-development and co-production.
Way Forward
- India must build a fleet of five Arctic-capable ice-class tankers under Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy by 2030-31.
- An India-Arctic Economic Forum should connect Indian industry with Arctic shipping and energy opportunities.
- India must appoint a Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs at the earliest opportunity.
- An Arctic-Himalaya Climate Data Corridor with Nordics for joint monsoon and sea-level monitoring is essential.
- Cooperation must deepen in offshore wind, green hydrogen and grid-balancing technologies with Nordic partners.
Conclusion
- For Nordics, India offers scale, growth and trusted democratic partnership in the Indo-Pacific. For India, Nordics provide technology, capital and expertise without hegemonic conditions attached. Oslo summit must mark transition from episodic engagement to sustained strategic partnership. As Arctic becomes more contested, India must actively construct its Arctic policy architecture.
