Modi-Putin Kazan meet to focus on resource-rich Arctic, Northern Sea Route

New Delhi: India's role in the resource-rich Russian Arctic region and Northern Sea Route (NSR) will be key items on the agenda when Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan on October 22 on the eve of the BRICS Summit.

Ahead of the leaders-level meeting, an Indo-Russian Joint Working Group on NSR discussed the targets of Indian-Russian cargo transit along the Northern Sea Route, joint projects in Arctic shipbuilding, and possible training of Indian sailors for polar navigation, said people familiar with the matter.

The working group also drafted a MoU for cooperation in cargo shipping in NSR. India will be building four non-nuclear icebreakers for Russia for NSR, the people said.

Kazan, often described as St Petersburg of Eurasian part of Russia, is the venue for the upcoming BRICS Summit that will be the first to feature all 10 members of the group after the joining of five new members last year. The meeting between Modi and Putin could also focus on several other issues of interest including financial, energy, defence partnership, besides conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia.

During meetings at the 22nd India-Russia annual summit in Moscow this July, Modi and Putin had discussed optimum use of the NSR via the Arctic.

A joint statement issued after the summit had made specific mention of the Arctic. "The Sides their readiness to intensify trade and investment cooperation in the Far East and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. In this regard, the Sides welcomed the signing of the Program of India-Russia cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres in the Russian Far East for the period from 2024 -2029, as well as of cooperation principles in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation," according to the statement.