A five-member delegation from Russian academia and universities dealing with projects related to the Arctic and International Studies in Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg and Murmansk visited MP-IDSA on 7 February 2024 for an interaction with scholars at the Institute on the theme ‘Prospects of India-Russia Cooperation in the Arctic’. The Russian delegation included Dr. Anton S. Kovshov, Director and Ms. Ekaterina V. Serova, Deputy Director, the Arctic Center, Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk. Dr. Mikhail V. Vasyokha, Head of the Department of Marine Oil and Gas Engineering and Dr. Zhanna V. Vasilyeva, Head of the Department of Ecology and Technosphere Safety, were from Murmansk Arctic University, Murmansk. The fifth member of the delegation was Dr. Kirill A. Likhachev, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and History of International Relations, School of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia. The interaction was chaired by Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General, MP-IDSA, New Delhi.

Detailed Report

In his opening remarks, the Director General, Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy formally welcomed the Russian Delegation to MP-IDSA. He highlighted the strengths of India-Russia bilateral relations and acknowledged that there exists strong cooperation between the two countries despite global geopolitical uncertainties. DG mentioned that the bilateral trade between India and Russia has surpassed the US$50 billion mark in 2023. He emphasised that these high trade figures are mainly a result of India’s increased imports of Russian hydrocarbons and there is a need to diversify our trade to new areas. DG highlighted the emerging importance of the Arctic region from environmental, economic and strategic perspectives. He mentioned that the limited cooperation in the working groups of the Arctic Council without Russia, which accounts for more than 50 per cent of the coastal extent in the region, remains a cause of concern. DG further mentioned that India supports the development of Russia’s Northern Sea Route and its Far East regions. He highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Act Far East Policy’ and emphasised that India in 2019 allocated a US$1 billion line of credit for the development of Russia’s Far East. DG acknowledged Russia’s decision to train Indian seafarers for Polar Regions and highlighted that Indian seafarers globally contribute 10 per cent of manpower for global shipping. He mentioned that as shipping activity in the NSR develops it offers further prospects for Indian seafarers in Arctic waters. Post these opening remarks, DG welcomed the presentations from the Russian delegation.

Dr. Anton S. Kovshov, Director, Arctic Center, Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk thanked Ambassador Chinoy for inviting them all to MP-IDSA. He acknowledged all the points made by Ambassador Chinoy and emphasised the need for more people-to-people cooperation between the two countries. Dr. Anton highlighted that the Arctic presents immense opportunities for both Russia and India and at the Arctic Centre, at Petrozavodsk State University their research remains focused on understanding multiple aspects of the Arctic. Dr. Anton highlighted that their Institute conducts multiple activities on Arctic Science, geo-economics, climate change, potential resources in the Arctic and other related aspects via seminars, conferences and publications in both Russian and English language. Dr. Anton highlighted that they are interested in better understanding India’s interests in the Arctic and welcomed the future participation of scholars from MP-IDSA in these. Dr. Anton then invited his colleague Ms. Ekaterina V. Serova to elaborate further on this very aspect.

Both Dr. Mikhail Vasekha and Dr. Zhanna Vasileva made their presentations mainly in Russian Language which were simultaneously translated in English by Ms. Ekaterina V. Serova.

Questions and Comments

The Director General, Amb. Chinoy complimented the members of the Russian delegation for their detailed presentations. He highlighted that ‘Arctic Tourism’ could become an important area for enhancing India-Russia bilateral cooperation. DG mentioned that there is immense potential in this regard where the Russian side could consider exploring opportunities in the Indian tourism industry. He mentioned that in the post-COVID pandemic recovery years, India’s outbound tourism has witnessed a significant increase.

Dr. Uttam Kumar Sinha mentioned that India, despite being a distant country, remains well-informed regarding the geopolitical and environmental transitions in the Arctic. He also highlighted that India in 2022 came up with its first Arctic Policy document that presents a detailed account of India’s interests in the region.

Dr. Rajorshi Roy highlighted that India-Russia cooperation on any aspect in the Arctic could enhance bilateral cooperation between both countries. He asked the delegation if they could elaborate a bit on ‘How the developments in the Russian Far East have contributed to more attraction of Asian states interests towards the Arctic?’ He also asked the delegation to comment on China’s increasing presence in the Russian Arctic.

Dr. Swasti Rao also asked the delegation about the increasing China-Russia cooperation in the Arctic. She further asked the delegation to comment on China’s increasing role in various energy projects in the Arctic.

Dr. Jason asked the delegation about the possibilities of expanding the business of Indian Film Industry in the Russian Arctic. He highlighted that the Arctic offers perfect locations for undertaking cinematographic shoots that could open business opportunities for Indian Bollywood Industry.

Ms. Anandita asked the delegation whether the Russian side is looking for possibilities of expanding Russian businesses via SMEs to Indian markets or whether this could also be explored the other way around.

All the members of the Russian delegation gave detailed remarks to all the comments raised. The interaction ended with a formal note of thanks and an exchange of books and mementoes from both sides.

Report prepared by Mr. Bipandeep Sharma, Research Analyst, Non-Traditional Security Centre, MP-IDSA.