A Nordic India connects to power a green transition (GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Context:
Over the last decades, Nordic countries have been pioneering green technologies. Together, the Nordics and India can power the green transition the world needs.
Collaborative effort:
Over the last decades, India have also been at the forefront of developing new green technologies and solutions such as hydrogen, offshore wind, batteries and carbon capture and storage, solutions that are essential for the world to succeed in the green transition it desperately needs.
The Nordics have succeeded in building stable, secure, welfare-based societies that, to a large extent, manage to meet the needs and the wishes of their inhabitants.
The Nordic region wants to become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. However, the Nordic countries alone cannot deliver the green transition the world requires. Together, the Nordics and India can deliver key technologies and solutions to stop climate change and boost green growth.
Recent development:
At the Nordic-India Summit held in Copenhagen in May 2022, the five Nordic Prime Ministers and India’s Prime Minister agreed to intensify cooperation on digitalisation, renewable energy, maritime industries, and the circular economy.
India expressed an interest in joint Nordic solutions that can support India’s green transition.
Now, the Trade Ministers of Norway and Finland, are currently visiting India together (February 9-10). They aim to showcase the added value to the partnership with India and learn from the impressive innovations and digital solutions being developed in India.
There are now 240 Norwegian and Finnish companies in India.
India-Finland:
The past year has seen a significant rise in trade and investments between Finland and India, and India has grown to become a priority country for Finland.
A great illustration of this is that Finland opened a new Consulate General in Mumbai. This further increases the number of Nordic representations in India’s commercial capital and will contribute to strengthening India-Finnish ties.
Several Indian companies are looking towards Finland for its expertise in areas of technology and innovation, sustainability, digitalisation, carbon neutrality and more. An increasing number of Indian students, researchers, and experts have been moving to Finland as well.
Finnish companies such as Nokia and Fortum see India as their largest growth market now and have some of their most significant investments in India.
India-Norway:
Trade between Norway and India has doubled in the last three years. The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund is likely to become one of India’s largest single foreign investors (around $17.6 billion).
The Norwegian government has also recently established a new Climate Investment Fund for investments in renewables abroad, and India has been defined as a focus country.
Almost ₹1,500 crore have been invested so far in India through the climate investment fund, and the number of investments is increasing rapidly.However, there is still significant untapped potential for trade and further collaboration.
FTAs:
Both Norway and Finland have ongoing free trade agreement and investments negotiations (FTA) with India. Finland, as a member of the European Union (EU), is a part of the EU-India FTA negotiations, and Norway is negotiating through the European Free Trade Association.
Finalising the free trade and investments agreements with India is a priority forNorway and Finland.
There is a great deal of complementarities in trade relations, as their exchange in goods is of a different nature. In addition, trade in services is an area of significant potential, especially with tourism, education, IT, energy, maritime and financial services.
Way Forward:
As India takes rapid strides into a green, digital, and innovative future, Nordic countries such as Finland and Norway stand ready to share experiences and be a part of India’s transition.
Technologies and innovations that are successful and are scaled-up in India can easily be transferred to other parts of the world. Together, the Nordics and India can be the powerhouse of the green transition globally.
