Context:

The Union Minister convened a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador to India to review the collaboration between India and Norway on the Blue Economy.

Key Highlights of the Review Meet:

Strengthening the Joint Task Force:

• The meeting emphasized the importance of the Joint Task Force (JTF) to enhance cooperation on the Blue Economy.

Deepening Ocean Management and Research Initiative:

• The minister recalled the ‘India-Norway Integrated Ocean Management and Research Initiative’ and stressed the need to further deepen this collaboration. 
• During the meeting, it also mentioned India’s deep-sea mission, which involves sending three Indians to explore opportunities in mineral exploration and seabed mining.

Support for Indo-Norwegian Fellowship Program:

• It highlighted the Ministry of Earth Sciences support for the Indo-Norwegian Fellowship Program, which allowed three students to conduct research on Arctic and Antarctic glaciology.

Collaboration in Polar Sciences:

• The discussion included the MoU signed between the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) for extensive collaboration in polar sciences at the 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Kochi.

Marine Spatial Planning and Future Conferences:

• During the meeting, the draft framework for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), a collaborative effort between India and Norway, was discussed.
  MSP coordinates human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social goals through political consensus.

UN Conference on Oceans (UNOC-3):

• Optimism was expressed about both countries' involvement in the upcoming UN Conference on Oceans (UNOC-3) in Nice, France, scheduled for 2025.
  UNOC is a major global event focusing on ocean health and sustainability, bringing together governments, scientists, NGOs, and stakeholders to discuss and address critical issues (UNOC-1: Held in 2017 in New York City).

Blue Economy:

• The World Bank defines the blue economy as the “sustainable use of ocean resources to benefit economies, livelihoods and ocean ecosystem health”

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)

• NCPOR established in 1998, is India’s premier R&D institution responsible for the country’s research activities in the polar and Southern Ocean realms.
• It is an autonomous institution under Ministry of Earth science, located in Goa.
• NCPOR plays a leading role in geoscientific surveys of India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.
• It also conduct deep-sea drilling and explore potential ocean resources like gas hydrates and hydrothermal sulphides.

About the IndARC Observatory

• India’s first underwater moored observatory in the Arctic, IndARC, was deployed in 2014 at Kongsfjorden fjord, Svalbard, Norway.
• This observatory studies the influence of the Arctic climate on the monsoon.