India-Norway strengthen blue economy ties at Monaco Marine conference

Union Minister for Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh met with Norway’s Minister of International Development, Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, at Monaco last night. During the meeting, Norway’s minister expressed solidarity with India over the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam. 

Dr Singh said in a social media post that the Norway Minister conveyed there is a strong public sentiment in Norway in favour of India, with many citizens expressing a desire to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit their country. Moreover, both the leaders exchanged notes on deepening India-Norway cooperation in Marine Planning, arctic research and a resilient Blue Economy.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh also addressed the Monaco Marine Conference last night. In a social media post, the Union



Minister said that he reiterated India’s commitment to a resilient Blue Economy and pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had referred to it twice in his two consecutive Independence Day addresses. 

He further said that the India-Norway MSP collaboration, under the Indo-Norwegian Integrated Ocean and Research Initiative, has already yielded visible outcomes, notably the pilot projects in Puducherry and Lakshadweep addressing diverse issues like coastal erosion, biodiversity, fisheries, tourism and conservation.

The Union Minister further highlighted that one of India’s most notable achievements is the launch of the SAHAV portal – a GIS-based decision support system now recognised as a Digital Public Good, to mark the International Ocean Day.