India-Norway Relations

In News

• Norway’s Ambassador to India recently said that the bilateral trade between India and Norway has doubled to $2 billion in the last two years.
  • He recently took part in the silver jubilee celebration of the National Institute of Ocean Technology.

Upcoming Areas of Cooperation in India Norway Relations

• Climate investments:
  • Norway is planning to invest in climate investments, clean energy and ocean technology worldwide.
  • Norway would invest $1 billion from its climate investment fund in five years worldwide. 
    • Substantial part of the investments will take place in India. India is one of the countries with a large potential for solar energy.
• Wind Energy:
  • Norway is working with the National Institute of Wind Energy to expand Wind energy infrastructure in India.
    • The problem in India, when it came to wind energy, was that only Tamil Nadu and Gujarat had stable wind to make it viable. 
• Ship-breaking industry in India:
  • Norway has the fifth largest commercial fleet in the world, and ship recycling was crucial to keep up a modern fleet, both for environmental as also for competitive reasons. 
  • Norway is cooperating closely with India over this.
• Hong Kong Convention:
  • The Hong Kong Convention is aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives; do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. 
  • India has joined the Hong Kong Convention. 
  • It will be a binding international legal instrument.
• Academic relations:
  • There is an academic relation between the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and the Institute of Wind Energy in Chennai with institutions in Norway. 
• Digitising historical monuments:
  • The Norwegian company, Piql, was involved in creating a digital archive for Indian monuments such as the Taj Mahal.
  • The company was also involved in digitising historical monuments such as Dholavira in Gujarat and the Bhimbetka Caves in Madhya Pradesh.

Norway-India relations

• History
  • Ties between Norway and India have deep historical roots. 
  • As early as the 1600s, a Danish-Norwegian trading station was established in Tranquebar (Tharangambadi), which today lies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
  • Norway’s first Consulates in India opened in Kolkata and Mumbai in 1845 and 1857, respectively.
  • In 1952, the “India fund” was established with the aim to provide development assistance with a focus on fisheries.
• Consulate General
  • The Consulate General in Mumbai re-opened its doors in 2015. 
  • It had been closed since the 1970s.
• India Strategy
  • In 2018 the Norwegian government launched a new ‘India Strategy’.
  • The India Strategy outlines five thematic priorities:
    • Democracy and a rules-based world order
    • The oceans
    • Energy
    • Climate and Environment
    • Research, higher education and global health.
• Ocean nations
  • Norway and India are both ocean nations seeking to develop the vast economic, scientific and ecological potential of the oceans. 
  • In 2019, Norway and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a structured and strategic cooperation on the oceans. 
  • This cooperation is based on our shared interest in the blue economy and the sustainable use of marine resources, as well as a desire to advance scientific knowledge about our oceans.
• Climate change
  • Norway considers India a critical partner in addressing global climate, environment and resource challenges, and continuously seeks to increase cooperation in support of the Paris agreement and the SDG-agenda.
• Bilateral Trade
  • Total bilateral trade increased from US$ 974.22 million in 2013-2014 to US$ 1,202.06 million in 2017-2018. 

Source: TH