”Norway and India” - opening speech at Indian-Norwegian seminar on maritime safety

Minister, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to be here today to open this seminar, arranged jointly by the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

I would like to thank Minister Pallam Raju for his speech and IDSA for hosting this seminar.

Let me make a personal remark at the outset. I see this seminar as significant for three specific reasons:

The first is the mere fact that two of the most influential Norwegian and Indian defence research institutes have come together in this substantial programme of cooperation. Together they are developing new knowledge and expertise on topics within the foreign and security policy field.

The Norwegian Government highly appreciates and welcomes this cooperation. It is valuable for our efforts to deepen the understanding of issues of mutual interest to both Norway and India.

The second reason is that Norwegian-Indian cooperation is expanding into new areas. In recent years our exchanges have increased in almost all fields. This seminar illustrates how we venture together into security and foreign policy analysis, reflecting that interdependence is a reality and not only a slogan.

The third reason is related to building and expanding new networks among nations, new relations and new ties beyond traditional patterns of cooperation. Because if interdependence is more than a slogan we need to act on that fact and bridge gaps and enhance our ability to deal with bilateral, regional and global issues in a much more concerted fashion.

At first glance a comparison between Norway and India is marked by differences: differences in size, differences in development, differences in regional and global outlook.

But the perspective changes if we compare a deeper understanding of our approach with what it takes to make the world safer, what it takes to combat poverty effectively, what it takes to build the necessary trust to improve global governance.

In this perspective I see this seminar as helpful and valuable, and I am pleased to convey the Norwegian Government’s full support for its programme.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Perhaps it is a coincidence, but the fact is that exchanges between Norway and India expanded significantly around 2005, just about when Jens Stoltenberg’s government took office. Trade has expanded, political exchanges have increased, cooperation in the fields of culture, science and technology has deepened.

The emergence of India on our political horizon is one of the defining experiences I have had as Foreign Minister during the last four years. It reflects not only our bilateral adventures, highlighted by the adoption of the Norwegian Government’s India strategy, and also by our close interaction with Indian colleagues on the international stage. This interaction has involved areas ranging from cooperation on key political issues in this region to meetings in a WTO setting, the climate change negotiations and our joint initiatives to reduce child and maternal mortality as a strategy to combat poverty.

The fact is that even from a national interest perspective we are struck by how much less relevant our differences have become, and by how much more closely we are now, as are most nations of the world. In fact, in a political perspective the notion of “far away” makes little sense. In today’s interdependent world “any problem” quickly becomes “anyone’s problem”.

One area where we are further developing longstanding cooperation is the whole cluster of shipping and maritime industries, and it is only appropriate that this is a theme at this seminar.

Norway has a substantial presence in the Indian Ocean through its merchant fleet – the sixth largest in the world – and we provide maritime services that are vital for trade and economic development all over the globe.

India, with its long coast line, is situated close to some of the world’s most important sea routes, connecting the Middle East to South and South-East Asia. Norwegian-controlled ships are sailing these seas, calling frequently at Indian ports.

Meanwhile, Norway is seeing increased maritime traffic in its own coastal waters as the melting ice opens up new sea lanes in the High North and the Arctic, opening up perspectives of new sea routes connecting Asia and Europe.

As a consequence, Norway and India share the interest of contributing to safety at sea. This is why we both engage against the threat from piracy in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. Piracy is a threat to safe passage. Piracy is also a threat to free trade, and thus to both development and welfare. Piracy damages the commercial interests of both our countries and has lead to greater insecurity for seafarers.

Both Norway and India have sent military vessels to the region to take part in counter-piracy efforts, and we are cooperating through international mechanisms such as the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia to increase the effectiveness of these efforts.

However, international counter-piracy operations provide only a short- to medium-term solution. Our efforts are merely alleviating part of the problem, they are not solving it. The long-term solution to piracy is to be found on land, in Somalia itself.

The challenge is to re-establish Somalia as a state that is able to control its own territory and its own waters. This requires political and diplomatic efforts, and assistance to Somalia in the form of capacity-building. Our efforts through UN-led initiatives are key. India and Norway must cooperate beyond naval presence – we must also mobilise politically.

Let me shift the perspective to our own waters. Our ability to let a vessel from the Royal Norwegian Navy contribute to the operations in the western Indian Ocean is due to the investments we have made over the last few years to modernise our navy. Through a broad modernisation programme, the Norwegian Navy will emerge as one of Europe’s most modern navies, reflecting the responsibility we have for large sea areas off mainland Norway.

India’s and Norway’s exclusive economic zones are about the same size, estimated at more than 2.3 million square kilometres. The oceans under Norwegian jurisdiction are six times larger than mainland Norway.

This fact is shaping our strategic outlook. The Norwegian Government has defined the High North as a strategic priority in our foreign and security policy.

We see that the High North, which includes the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, northwestern Russia and the waters beyond, is attracting increased international attention. I have identified three major drivers explaining this:

First, climate change, which is contributing to the melting of the polar ice – sounding a clarion call for action to curb emissions of climate gases – and which is also changing the character of the region by opening up new potential shipping routes.

Second, and partly as a consequence of the first, the potential accessibility of natural resources – non-renewable ones like oil and gas, and renewable ones like valuable fish stocks.

And third, our neighbourhood with Russia and the transition Russia is going through, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Let me comment on a few aspects of these changes.

As you all know, the ice around the North Pole is receding – it is melting. An earlier draft report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicated that the North Pole might be ice-free in summer by 2080 or 2090. In a report published in February 2007, the date was brought forward to 2040. It may happen even earlier, but in any case, 2040 is not in the distant future.

The High North, with Svalbard, the northernmost part of Norway, situated close to the 80th parallel, offers a unique front row seat to observe both climate change and other major meteorological and atmospheric changes. India is seizing on this opportunity. In 2008 India opened the Himadri research station in Svalbard. Since then, activity at the station has been increasing, and new research scientists arrive at regular intervals.

We envisage the emergence of new shipping routes. Last summer, two German vessels sailed from Asia to Europe through the Northeast Passage. The polar explorers dreamed of using this route more than a hundred years ago. Have no illusions: conditions in this region will continue to be rough and icy despite global warming. But things are definitely changing, opening up fascinating scenarios of exchange between continents.

Taking a direct route from Europe to Asia straight across the Arctic may reduce the distance between Rotterdam and Yokohama by 40% compared with sailing through the Suez Canal. The result would be a significant overall reduction in emissions from maritime transport and an increase in vessel productivity.

Already today some 300 oil tankers sail from the oil fields in the Pechora Sea off northwestern Russia every year, crossing the Barents Sea towards European and global markets.

Then there is Russia, our neighbour in the northeast. Norway has been at peace with Russia for a thousand years. Our 196-kilometre land border can be considered a border of low tension and cooperation.

Some of Russia’s other neighbours have vastly different experiences. But I see Norway and Russia’s pragmatic cooperation in the north as a major contribution to peace and stability in Europe.

Security analysts would argue that this specific bilateral relationship is an asymmetric one. And they are right. Norway chose to safeguard its security through membership in NATO. This need is still valid.

And the peaceful bilateral relationship has not always been a warm one. In fact, during the Cold War it was rather frozen. However, since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, our relations have improved on most accounts.

To mention but one example: during the year 1990, only 3000 people crossed the border checkpoint in both directions. Last year, there were more than 100 000 such crossings.

We now face challenges of a different nature. Our military were trained to respond to one threat: a potential major military attack from the Soviet Union. Today they train to manage a number of complex risk factors in various fields – ranging from management of fisheries, management of energy resources, border control, transport safety, migration, international crime, climate change, environmental problems and of course military activity.

The fact is that none of these challenges is owned by the military alone. There has to be cooperation between the military and the civilian side. Moreover, none of these challenges is owned by Norway alone. By definition, Russia is part of the picture, as are several other nations.

For this reason Norway, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland have developed new and innovative schemes of regional cooperation in the Barents region, involving not only governments but also regional communities. And together with the US and Canada the same countries have taken Arctic cooperation forward within the framework of the Arctic Council – the only circumpolar cooperation forum in the north.

In short, we have to adjust our perspectives, we need to update our mental maps. Risk management is quite different from threat management.

I mention this backdrop to underline why I find it very timely to start this seminar by looking at the implications for maritime security in a regional and global context.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me now enlarge the perspective and focus on quite a different area of interest to both India and Norway: the United Nations and the future of global governance.

Again, India and Norway are different in many respects, but we also see commonalities – such as per capita contributions to UN peacekeeping operations. And we are both engaging in the emerging and evolving discussions on the future of global governance, the role of the G20 group and the role of the UN itself.

A key issue in this debate is the question of the legitimacy of the international system. As a small state, Norway has always had an interest in a solid legal order. Norway has a strong interest in a well-regulated world order, not one where only the strong prevail. For this reason we favour relevant and effective international bodies that are both representative and legitimate.

This has been a concern also for India. Or to put it another way, can global governance be effective, legitimate and representative if India is not accorded its due role and weight in terms of representation, seats and presence? We could make the same observation for a number of emerging countries and economies.

To be specific, the continued legitimacy of the UN Security Council will depend on our ability to push forward with reform. An effective Security Council must reflect today’s world, not only that of the late 1940s.

Therefore Norway supports India’s ambition of having a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Like India, Norway is promoting global structures and rules that more closely reflect changes on the global political scene.

The G20 is now the focus of a lot of attention. I will not venture into an in-depth reflection on its role and composition. Let me simply state that although the G20 can be considered to be more representative than the G8 – and although we should salute some of the measures taken by the G20 group to address the financial crisis – there are still important questions pending.

The G20 is a self-appointed group. It may have virtues in the sense of representativity, but it lacks legitimacy. This needs to be urgently corrected as the group takes on new tasks, informally and gradually. I believe this will be a critical issue in the months ahead. We need better and more focused global governance. Decisions cannot be taken in a G192 forum. But we must never lose sight of the need to secure legitimacy and ties to the truly global body of cooperation that is the UN.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude.

Coming together in a Norwegian-Indian setting, more and more issues become relevant for discussion. This is how it should be. The purpose of the Norwegian Government’s India strategy is to create a dynamic framework for such discussions.

Concrete examples of progress show that the strategy is being fulfilled. And they are numerous. In 2008, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global, which is the world’s second largest sovereign wealth fund, entered into the Indian market – a reflection of the opportunities India has to offer.

The Norwegian company Aker Solutions has been awarded some of the world’s largest subsea contracts ever by its renowned Indian counterpart Reliance Industries, and is delivering advanced offshore gas production systems in the Bay of Bengal.

The Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor Group is investing in India, under the name of Uninor. Just one month after Uninor had launched its mobile services in India in December 2009, it had 1.2 million subscribers. That is the equivalent of a quarter of all Norwegian citizens.

And investment flows go both ways. In the Norwegian market, it is the information technology companies that are most active. Several Indian IT companies have invested in Norway. Companies in other sectors have followed suit, such as Tata Motor Company.

The Norwegian Government’s India strategy was launched in august 2009 with four priority areas for enhanced cooperation: international political issues; climate change and environmental and energy issues; further development of economic and business ties; and building further on our successful exchanges in the areas of research, higher education and culture.

Now, six months later, we already see progress – this seminar is one tangible sign we warmly welcome.

We have come to you with the desire to share experiences and to learn from India, for example by learning from the Indian people’s remarkable experience of living in a multicultural and tolerant society, learning from the experience of the world’s largest democracy.

And as we will see today, the Norwegian think-tank community is taking a rapidly growing interest in India. The IFS and IDSA are an excellent match. Your cooperation is very much in line with my Government’s policy.

Congratulations on today’s seminar. I am confident that it will be a great success.