Norway ready to boost India's green energy goals: Ambassador Stener

Norway's Ambassador to India May-Elin Stener has said that her country can help India get more green energy and "support the very ambitious goals that the Indian government has". Norway is a world leader in green energy, being Europe's largest producer of hydropower, expanding its onshore wind capacity, and giving a significant push to Green Hydrogen. 

Speaking at WION Podcast, to our correspondent Sidhant Sibal, she said, "when it comes to the climate change goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, it is very clear for us in Norway, and should be also in a lot of other countries, that if India does not reach its goals, the world will not reach its goals".

The ambassador listed the India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) as a milestone for Norway. European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organization which has Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and  Switzerland as its members.

Also read: Exclusive: Norway grants 98% of Indian exports zero customs duties under TEPA

Stener pointed out that Norway will ratify the trade agreement soon. She explained that because of this, "a lot of goods will get easier access, and they will be cheaper", giving the example of Norwegian Solomon. 

She also spoke about her country's foreign policy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting in Brazil, among other things. Stener is the first foreign envoy to be at the WION Podcast. Here's the full interview:

Sidhant Sibal: My first question to you is about the India-Norway relationship if you can give us a broader picture...

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: I would say the Indian-Norway relationship is really growing. It's getting more important by the day. And this year, 2024 has been a really important year. We managed to conclude the Free Trade Agreement, the trade and economic partnership agreement, in March, together with the other EFTA countries. And now we are just looking into the ratification in Norway, which will happen in the next couple of months and that is the cornerstone, a milestone for us, as a very good basis for our businesses.

Sidhant Sibal: You talked about EFTA, if you can talk about in detail, about the positive aspects in terms of how it will help not only the EFTA country but also India? 

Watch | Norway Chairwoman of the standing committee speaks to WION | Exclusive Interview

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: Well, it will help the EFTA countries, and I can talk about my own country, Norway, in the sense that a lot of goods will get easier access, and they will be cheaper. For example, Norwegian salmon, there is already quite a high toll on that, which will go down to zero in a few years. So Norwegian salmon will be cheaper, and that will also cause a great interest from the Norwegian seafood industry to look to India as a market. And mentioning market India is, and will be, the biggest consumer market in the world. So, of course, for us as Norway, this is of tremendous importance. And also, that's why I'm saying Norwegian interests, Norwegian businesses have a lot of interest. The agreement, though, also, I think, is beneficial for India, when, when it eases a trade between our countries and some of the goods that are going to Norway will also be cheaper to export. But first and foremost, I think this treaty is the first one to have an investment chapter, and that investment chapter is very important, and it's important for us in Norway and Norwegian businesses who want to invest in India. But I also think it's a very big advantage for India to have those measures on the investment.

Sidhant Sibal: What kind of investments we can expect from Norway, especially from your sovereign wealth fund to India and any domains which you expect. 

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund will not be included by the agreement, because we're talking about foreign direct investments here. So I can say about the sovereign wealth fund, though they are also growing in India, and their investments are growing, and probably that will also continue. But on the foreign direct investment, those areas that are of priority for Norway and India in our relationship, particularly on green energy, and also on the maritime sector and the maritime industries. We have very particular technologies in Norway, because we have been an energy superpower, because we found oil and gas in the 1970s and we're now transforming it all to green energy, and we're using a lot of the same technologies, and we are quite cutting edge there. And also we have been a big shipping nation, and therefore we also have quite a good technology to contribute in that area as well. And then coming into India, this is offering something that we can't really find anywhere else, it's the scale that is here. So therefore these companies, with these cutting-edge technologies, will be really interested in investing. And that we see also is of interest here in India, in your growth, in your growth stories.

Sidhant Sibal: Norwegian technology and India scale, they can come together, and Norway is a leader when it comes to technology, clean energy. How can Norway help India in meeting its goal, especially when it comes to climate change goals? 

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: Well, when it comes to the climate change goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, it is very clear for us in Norway, and should be also in a lot of other countries, that if India does not reach its goals, the world will not reach its goals. And this is important to stop the climate change that we are seeing and to keep our planet. So, you know that scheme, this is something that we should all worry about, and I think it's really important that we succeed and that we actually also will be able to work on these issues together and to get more green energy into India and to support the very ambitious goals that the Indian government has. 

Sidhant Sibal: We have a platform called the India Nordic Summit. It happened in Stockholm. Then it happened in Copenhagen. Is expected to happen in your country. How do you see this platform in furthering the goals between India and the Nordic region as a whole, which you're part of?

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: Well, the Nordic Region, we are composed of countries. We have a lot of the same history. We work very closely together in the Nordic Council, some of us share more or less the same language, and it's a platform where we are cooperating a lot in many areas. Still combined, we are population-wise, quite small compared to India, but the economies of the Nordic countries combined, we are between 10 to 12 in the world. So we do have a lot to offer. And I think also India sees that, because we are also getting the interest back. And as you have been saying, there have been two Nordic India summits, and we are now looking into having the next one in Oslo quite soon.

Sidhant Sibal: Now many of our viewers will be watching this interview. If you can explain the Norwegian foreign policy to them. What is the Norwegian policy all about, if you can, perhaps, in a concise format, tell this to our viewers.

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: Well, the Nordic well, we are a country far up in the north. We are a small country. We are neighbouring Russia in the north, this is, of course, important points in our foreign policy, in the current climate that we see, we are staunch supporters of Ukraine, and we are condemning the full-scale invasion of Russia, because we see that this is wrong. A country cannot invade that it's not allowed according to international law. But also for us as a neighbouring country, we of course, feel this even more closely than we also had a very, very close relations in the Middle East, some of the viewers might remember, if they are old enough, the Oslo Accords from 1993 that was brokered by Norway between Israel and the Palestinians. And the most important in those Accords, maybe, were the two-state solutions. And it does not look very good for the two-state solution these days, but we are still working on trying to get the parties in the Middle East together so that we are able to see that we still think that there is no other way to two-state solution between. So those are two important pillars. When we look at the world how it is today, we already spoke about the climate change and working, working in the framework of the United Nations on the Paris Agreement, and discussing and seeing how we can get action to solve those problems and to look towards the cleaner future for everyone and below the 1.5% Celsius goal is, of course, also very important. So those are some issues important in our foreign policy. Apart from that, also, of course, we want to see ourselves, as a bridge leader. We've had, I mentioned the Middle East, but we've also had, had roles in peace, building and mediating roles between parties in conflicts in many places in the world, and that's an experience that we have used, and are also used in the world today, which is quite full of conflicts.

Sidhant Sibal: It's a very volatile world. But ma'am, my last question to you is about India's role. How does Norway seize India which is a large country in Asia, a democratic country, and a country which is rising very fast?

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: Well, it's exactly that we see India as a country that is rising very fast. The economy is now the fifth largest in the world, and it's also the fastest-growing economy. You soon looking to be the third largest, which makes you a big power in itself, but we also see that the way India is conducting its foreign policy, it's growing in importance, and it's a country that a lot of other countries, including mine, are looking to and want to have close relations with, for sure.

Sidhant Sibal: In addition to this, both the prime ministers met in Brazil at the G20 Summit. Anything specific that came out, we saw the Indian read-out talking about the various sectors. Anything from the Norwegian side. What do we expect, or what was the purpose of that very important meeting?

Ambassador May-Elin Stener: Well, it was indeed a very important meeting, and it was really good to see that the two prime ministers met, my prime minister with Prime Minister Modi, and as I understand, they had a very good meeting and discussed precisely those issues that have been mentioned here, because they are peers in our bilateral relationship, particularly how to trade and economic partnership agreement implemented and to work on that. They also reconfirmed the importance of the Nordic India summit that will happen in Oslo next time. So it definitely just showed how important this relationship clearly is.