Modi’s Nordic outreach: Foreign policy reset or optics?

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:01][music] >> Hello and welcome to World Affairs, the Federalist weekly program on geopolitical developments with our consulting editor K.S. Dakshina Murthy who closely follows world affairs. This week's episode focuses on Modi's latest trip to Europe. So, from trade and technology to geopolitics and diaspora optics, India's engagement with northern Europe appears to be entering a new phase. Let me ask my first and very obvious question. So, why Nordic, why now, and what does India offer for them in in return?

[00:00:42]Okay, so this the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Nordic countries is a in a sense a routine and planned visit because this was the third summit that he was attending. And the first two were held in one in 2018, the other was in 2022, in one in Copenhagen, the other was in Stockholm.

[00:01:02]So, this was the third one and so in that sense it was a routine visit.

[00:01:08]So, he also combined a visit to the UAE in the Middle East and to Italy. So, so it's it's a kind of a combined combined package tour that India had planned and Modi had planned.

[00:01:22]So, in many ways it would have been a routine visit, but in the context that we see the world today where because of the Ukraine-Russia war and Iran-Israel-US war that's going on, it's it's got added significance because the world is now a more uncertain place. There's a lot of apprehension about where this is going, when the wars will end, and what is how is it going to impact the world economically. So, it it also brings home certain uh facts which countries like India need to look at. For instance, India needs now it's very clear for India that it needs to diversify its uh relationships. Because if you take the Nordic countries, India has not had a such a major kind of a trade deal or any kind of a relationship with them, economic relationship with them. Because if you take these countries, the trade is uh almost around 1% or even much below 1%.

[00:02:25]So, you have this kind of a situation where these countries, you know, in terms of the volume of trade, it's not very high.

[00:02:32]Probably UAE is far more than the Nordic countries. UAE and India have a trade which is about uh 8% 7 to 8% of India's trade is with UAE. So, it's it's a far more that way more important country. But at the same time, we cannot be dismissive about uh the visit to Europe because it's looking forward, it makes sense for India to go deeper into a relationship with these countries because these countries are very very uh strong in uh sustainable and green energy. They're very good in state-of-the-art, some of the latest technologies in as far as which will help in climate change to arrest climate change. So, it's a So, these are very niche kind of a countries which are highly developed.

[00:03:18]They are among the top countries in the world economically. So, India can benefit considerably by having a relationship a more serious relationship. Because all this while Indian India's relationship with was either with the EU as a block or with the British, the French, and the Germans. So, the rest of the European countries did not play such a big role in India's trade.

[00:03:42]So, that is in that sense it's a very important visit that you know that that that Modi undertook.

[00:03:49]Okay, so as you said, you know, Modi's visit coincides with the other international visits of you know, significance and you know, including Trump and then Putin to Beijing. So, is it a sign of change in global relations?

[00:04:06]Yeah, it's you know, it's a coincidence of course because these are all trips that are planned earlier, but it coincides with Trump's visit to Beijing and then you had Putin quickly following that with a trip before Trump visited Beijing, you had the Iranian foreign minister who visited Beijing.

[00:04:26]So, what is also happening as far as India is concerned is that it is watching India, you know, we are seeing China growing as a major power because right now everybody is converging on Beijing to in some ways bring about some kind of a diplomatic kind of a arrangement and truce between Iran and the US number one and also between Russia and Ukraine. So, in but mainly between Iran and the US. So, and everybody is converging on China and China and India though, you know, we have a kind of a good relationship as far as trade is concerned. Uh China happens to be closer to Pakistan you know, which whose hostility with India is well known. So, in that sense Modi's visit to Europe also kind of is a you know, is a it's a kind of a opening or uh it's a kind of a push that has been given to Indian foreign policy or India is being pushed to change its foreign policy to kind of rework it in a in a in a way that is more suitable to the current changing world and especially in the you know, something very close to the subcontinent because right now if you take South Asia, both China and Pakistan, Pakistan is playing a major role um in these diplomatic efforts. In fact, next week the Pakistani Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Beijing. So, in the you know, in the light of all these visits, India is kind of you know, on the on the global front is kind of been marginalized. So, India needs to kind of reassert itself and also to rework its strategies and you know, make sure that it does not you know, it is not left out in more ways than one. You said while you know, answering for the first question that Nordic countries are niche when it comes to clean energy. So, my next question is something along those lines. So, countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway are global leaders in green energy and also in shipping, telecom, AI and innovation. So, how important are these sectors for India's long-term growth plans?

[00:06:40]So, these are you know, the forward-looking technologies number one.

[00:06:44]Number two, amongst all this, the real important ones right now for India is renewable energy.

[00:06:51]And renewable energy would mean solar, you know, using the solar energy, wind energy and you know, to ensure to make sure that the dependence on petrol is reduced and these countries, the Nordic countries are have got very state-of-the-art technology as far as these technologies are concerned. And then number one and then the other reason why India needs to go in for it is right now we see that the Strait of Hormuz is blocked blocked and then you have kind of an impending kind of a shortage that is looming and the Prime Minister has also kind of cautioned people that there could be difficult days ahead because of a shortage of LPG and crude, you know, petrol. Of course, there is no issue right now, but these could happen say over the next month or two. If you take China for instance, how is China handling the issue? China is handling the issue because they have a huge amount of crude storage, that is number one. And number two, 50% of their energy requirements are met with renewable sources.

[00:08:01]So, you see China is already well prepared to deal with the current situation. Though they're playing a big role to end this um war between Iran and the US. Personally, you know, as far as their nation goes, they're they're quite stable and they're not unduly worried. Though, of course, anybody would want this war to end. But in the case of India, it is it is managed so far, but there is a kind of a limit to how much it can manage. So, this is the difference. And in future, to depend on a particular country or a particular block, like say the Middle East for oil, may not be such a great idea because these kind of situations will happen again because uh given the Israel uh Iran relationship or the kind of instability in the Middle East or West Asia as we call it, these kind of situations can arise again. And India being so much dependent on crude for its energy needs, it makes a lot of sense for India to look at countries like Norway, Sweden, uh Finland, and you know, make sure that there is they you know, tie up with some solid technological arrangement to you know, tide over this in the future.

[00:09:16]So, that India is better prepared for any kind of instability that may affect the rest of the world.

[00:09:23]Okay. My last question is, does Modi's visit to the Nordic countries imply a shift in Indian foreign policy? And how much is also aimed at strengthening Modi's global image for domestic political audiences back home.

[00:09:40]See, you know that when when Modi came to power in 2014 in the one year of the first year of his office, he traveled all over the world and it was a subject of many memes and discussions and criticisms and you know analysis. A lot of people praised him for he traveled to some 50 odd countries in that first year. So post that it kind of petered down and then of course this visit will will probably not make that kind of a big difference you know to that to that image because that is kind of now been forgotten. It's already than a decade into the rule of the current government. So that is kind of receding into the background. But as far as foreign policy is concerned India is not been very aggressively looking at a kind of a rethink on its foreign policy because India traditionally has been a kind of a fence sitter on most issues.

[00:10:41]So India doesn't want to take a stand that would you know either irritate one country or the other. But and also there have been certain kind of a trend certain trends in Indian politics like for instance supporting the Palestinian cause. But then now you have the Prime Minister you know getting closer taking India closer to Israel. And then in fact forming an axis between the UAE Israel US and India. You know the the four former kind of an axis which is being talked about you know in the international media. So this kind of small changes are happening but very not very perceptibly. It's happening very gradually. At the same time there is a shift but the shift whether it is dictated by India itself or it's being pushed to uh, make these changes it's still not very clear. As far as uh, let's say its relationship with Iran is concerned, because it still continues to have a kind of a civil relationship with Iran, it has helped India in the current crisis because Iran has periodically allowed uh, freight ships and uh, ships carrying LPG and oil to come to India.

[00:11:52]So, that has definitely um, brought about some kind of relief. And then you also have India's relationship with Russia, that came uh, you know, that has helped India because India was able to get oil from Russia. So, in that sense, it is not a very bad thing to be friends with everybody. But, in certain situations, uh, you can also get paralyzed because you don't know which way to move. For instance, if you take the current crisis uh, between the US and Iran, India is unable to make a move because India is close to both the US and to Iran. So, it is unable to take a kind of a decision and probably uh, this requires a larger uh, and a very discreet and very overt look at India's foreign policy and it should be, you know, obviously these things should be publicly discussed. There should be proposals that should ideally come from the uh, foreign office. But, these are not uh, you know, the way things are happening. And India is more reactive in the sense India is reacting to certain situations. So, even the expansion and trade with Europe is a reactive thing. So, if you take um, the you know, the tie-ups with all these Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden, you know, Denmark, um, and then of course you Italy and all that, it's more of a response to a certain crisis that is gripping the world and India would the Indian government would want India not to uh, you know, be you know, in difficulty.

[00:13:19]So, that is the reason why they're looking at newer avenues and also expand its trade. So, from that point of view, it's I wouldn't really call it a um, you know a concrete or a considered change in her foreign policy. It's more a kind of a reaction to the situation.

[00:13:35]Prime Minister Modi's Nordic outreach is expected to shape India's future partnerships in technology, climate, and global strategy. We'll have to wait and see. Thank you for joining, sir, and viewers, visit this space every Thursday at 8:00 p.m. where the week's most pressing global issue will be discussed.

[00:13:52]Thank you.