AKP Phnom Penh, March 19, 2025 —

Russia and India are interested in developing cooperation in the Arctic and should build up scientific and humanitarian exchanges, CEO of the Arctic Development Project Office (PORA) Maxim Dankin told TASS.

At the current stage in the development of Russian - Indian relations of importance are the Arctic exploration, "public diplomacy and links between scientific, public, and expert communities," he said.

On March 19-20, the Northern Forum - India business and scientific conference runs in New Delhi, where the Vivekananda International Foundation and the Institute of Management will host the event. "This meeting is aimed at finding common ground, discussing the development of business, scientific, educational, cultural exchange," he said.

"Being the largest Arctic research expert center in Russia, we will invite Indian counterparts to joint scientific and analytical research, educational and humanitarian projects. We will invite experts, will organize visits of the younger generation so that they could try the Arctic topics," he added.

In 2024, when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia, the countries inked a memorandum on cooperation in scientific research and logistics in Polar Regions. "Under that agreement, one of the subjects is joint research, including participation in expeditions on our scientific ice-resistant self-propelled platform - the North Pole. To date, India's representatives have not participated in these studies, and we have been working on this, negotiations are underway," he said.

Representatives of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have visited India to discuss future joint projects. "Perhaps in the next cycle, because right now the platform is on a mission in the Arctic," he said.

AKP-TASS