The program of Russian-Indian cooperation in the trade, economic and investment spheres in the Far East until 2025 and the principles of cooperation in the Arctic are planned to be adopted at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov held a working meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India Venkatesh Varma.
According to the ministry, in 2020, the volume of foreign trade of the Far Eastern Federal District with India increased by more than 5% and exceeded $ 764 million.
"The regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation increased the turnover of foreign trade with Indian partners by 12.6% – up to $ 800 million," the report says.
Venkatesh Varma noted the prospects for expanding cooperation in the field of education. "According to the ambassador, the student flow can be increased to 25 thousand people, provided that educational programs in such areas in demand among young people as IT, international law and other areas appear in the Far East," the press service said.
Russian-Indian cooperation in the oil and gas sector could make India the first non-Arctic state to extract resources in the Arctic, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with The Times of India.
"We are establishing cooperation in geological exploration and joint development of oil and gas fields in the territory of the two countries, including offshore projects, which will eventually allow India to become the first non-Arctic state extracting resources in the Arctic. Specifically, Indian companies are participating in the development of oil and gas fields under the Sakhalin-1 project, as well as the Vankor oil and gas condensate field," the minister said.
Moscow and New Delhi are looking into ways to improve the energy supply routes from Russia to Indian partners. The agencies concerned are studying the possibility of expanding cooperation in the field of hydroelectric and thermal power generation and energy efficiency, as well as in the design and construction of renewable energy facilities, the foreign minister added.
Geopolitics is about the politics of space which includes its various characteristic e.g. location, size, natural resources, trade routes (both land and sea), economy and of course environmental conditions. In all classic theories of geopolitics, world has been divided into Heartland, Rimland and World Island and many areas have been identified and discussed as more important than others for various reasons. But, the Arctic has been totally ignored in all its geopolitical dimensions as we do not find any geopolitical mention of its size, location, trade route and resources etc.
Shipping news from the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for 2014 is not very encouraging on two counts. First, after a positive trend in the number of ships sailing through the NSR (4 vessels in 2010; 34 vessels in 2011; 46 vessels in 2012; and 71 vessels in 2013), the transits have reduced in 2014. According to the Russian NSR Information Office, only 31 vessels transited between Zhelania and Dezhnev along the NSR.
Russia has offered India to participate in the development and production of oil fields in the Arctic and Eastern Siberia. Indian companies are also encouraged to participate in Russian gas projects, including in the field "Sakhalin-1".
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