India and the countries of Northern Europe, primarily the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland) and the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) share huge convergences and complementarities. India’s convergences with the Nordic countries lie in democratic values, pluralism, climate change and the environment, promotion of global peace and security, freedom of speech and expression, and promotion of human rights. With the Baltic countries, India has strong historical connections and common linguistic roots.
The First India-Nordic Summit held in Stockholm, Sweden in April 2018 reiterated India and the Nordic countries’ commitment towards cooperation in global security, economic growth, innovation and climate change. The summit re-energised the Nordic Sustainable Cities Project, aimed at supporting the Smart Cities Program of the Government of India. India and Iceland signed an agreement for the establishment of the ICCR Chair for Hindi language between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the University of Iceland. India and Sweden also signed an agreement related to an innovation partnership for a sustainable future. The second India-Nordic Summit was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May 2022. During the Summit, the Prime Ministers of India and the Nordic countries pledged to continue to deepen cooperation between the Nordic countries and India. They focused their discussions on key issues related to international peace and security, including the conflict in Ukraine, multilateral cooperation, green transition and climate change, the blue economy, innovation and digitalisation. The Prime Ministers discussed the destabilising effect of the conflict in Ukraine and its broader regional and global implications. The Nordic Countries reiterated their support for India’s Permanent Membership in a reformed and expanded Security Council. The Prime Ministers saw opportunities for increased co-operation in the Arctic on polar research, climate and environmental issues. The leaders agreed that a strong partnership between India and the Nordic countries can help promote innovation, economic growth, climate-friendly solutions and mutually beneficial trade and investments. The Summit emphasised the importance of strong people-to-people contacts through education, culture, labour mobility and tourism.
The Baltic countries wish to make rapid progress in the scientific, technological and digital economy domains. In these areas, especially, India offers the Baltic countries opportunities for meaningful engagement and partnership in Asia. There have been several high-level visits between India and the Baltic states in recent years. The Prime Minister of Lithuania visited India in February 2016—the second such visit. This was followed by the visit of the prime minister of Latvia in November 2017. The Estonian Minister for Entrepreneurship and IT visited India in March 2018. The Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu, visited the Baltic nations from 17-22 August 2019. His visit to the region was important as it emphasised the strengthening the political, economic and people-to-people relations between India and the Baltic States. The visit also provided an opportunity for India to brief these countries on its decision to abrogate Article 370 and the restructuring of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Baltic states also supported India’s call for the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. In Latvia, the Vice President and Latvian President Egils Levits, agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of education and science, and among the higher education institutions. In Estonia, while discussing the opportunities for Estonian companies in India, the Vice President invited the Estonian businesses to consider India as their manufacturing base, not only for the Indian market, but as their gateway to the larger Asian market. During his visit to Lithuania, the Vice President identified several areas for future cooperation between the two countries, like agro-food processing, pharmaceuticals, etc. He invited Lithuanian technological expertise in solar storage systems and also to look at the future potential transfer of technologies to Indian companies. Deputy Speaker in the Lithuanian Parliament, Vytautas Mitalas, and MP Andrius Vysniauska participated as members of a parliamentary delegation in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations’ ”Next Gen Democracy Network” initiative held in the last week of January 2023. The visiting lawmakers said that Lithuania is pursuing enhanced collaboration with India in a range of sectors, including defence, biotechnology and semiconductors, to mutually address the needs of a rapidly changing global landscape. They stressed the importance of fortifying defence cooperation for mutual benefit, citing the present state of affairs in Europe and Asia. There is immense scope for strategic cooperation between India and the Baltic nations. All three Baltic states share India’s position and identify the need to fight global terrorism as one of the aspects of their foreign and security policy. Over the years, there has been an upward swing in the relations between India and the Nordic countries, as well as the Baltic countries which is a pragmatic convergence.
On 28 September 2020, Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Denmark Mr. Mette Frederiksen launched a Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Green Strategic Partnership between the Government of India and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Green Strategic Partnership expands and strengthens significantly the bilateral relations and cooperation between India and Denmark who established diplomatic relations more than 70 years ago, whereas the first trade relations were established 400 years ago. The India-Denmark Joint Action Plan (2021-2026) covers the main areas and mechanisms for cooperation, reflecting the width and depth of the strategic partnership between India and Denmark. In December 2018, the Norwegian government launched a new ‘India Strategy’. The strategy sets clear priorities for the Norwegian government until 2030 and gives renewed impetus to develop our bilateral cooperation. 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. To achieve these objectives, Norway focuses on political contact and cooperation between the authorities, business cooperation, and research cooperation. In April, 2025, in collaboration with the Embassy of India Stockholm, the Institute for Defence and Security Policy (ISDP)’s Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs organised a dialogue titled “India-Sweden Ties as a Gateway to India-Nordic Engagement: A Six-fold Approach to Cooperation”. Key policy makers and strategic analysts from India and Sweden called for focusing the high-level engagement between the two countries to take it to the next level. The dialogue held in Stockholm discussed key areas of bilateral cooperation, stressing how a strong and enduring India-Sweden bilateral partnership can pave the way for greater India-Nordic engagement and complement a broader India-Nordic and India-EU relationship. The six critical areas identified and discussed were Science & Technology, Innovation, Energy, Sustainable Development, Défense, and Trade Economics. At this event, ISDP also released the Stockholm paper: “India-Sweden ties as a Gateway to India-Nordic engagement.”
On 22 April, 2025, the Pakistan-based terrorist group ‘The Resistance Front’, an offshoot of the Pakistan-backed terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, perpetrated a devastating attack on innocent tourists at the scenic Baisaran Valley near the hill station of Pahalgam, which is in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. Two weeks later, India struck back with a military operation titled ‘Operation Sindoor’, which led to an escalation of violence between India and Pakistan. Although a ceasefire has been reached, the hardened stance of New Delhi marks a new chapter in India’s counter terrorism approach. Following this, as part of its global diplomatic outreach, India sent All-party parliamentary delegations who met leaders, diplomats, policymakers and diaspora in several nations to project India’s national consensus, India’s position on Operation Sindoor and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. One such delegation, led by Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, visited Latvia in May 2025 to convey India’s proactive policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. The Latvian State Secretary AndzejsVilumsons reiterated his country’s unequivocal opposition to terrorism in all its forms and termed India a significant player in the Indo-Pacific region for peace and stability. In Copenhagen, the delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ravi Shankar Prasad apprised the Danish leaders of challenges posed by cross-border terrorism to India, Operation Sindoor and global issues that threaten peace and security. Thus, it can evidently be seen that India continues to make major strides towards greater strategic convergence with Northern Europe.
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