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India and the Baltic States: Strengthening the Partnership

Received: 24 June 2021     Accepted: 8 July 2021     Published: 15 July 2021
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Abstract

The Baltic Sea Region existing on the crossroads of Europe and Central Asia holds a greater geopolitical significance. The region holds a strong potential to deepen India’s ties with the Europe and Central Asian countries. This article will discuss the prospects of near future areas of cooperation to increase India’s engagement with the Baltic states in terms of Trade, Investments and Strategic partnership. The article will also provide quantitative analysis of the bilateral trade between India and Baltic states while focusing on the scope for trade and investment in specific sectors. Distance being one of the major barriers for increasing cooperation between India and the Baltic states, the efficacy of the Northern Sea route passing through the Bering Strait has been discussed in the paper. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are entrapped between the power politics of US, Russia and now China in the region. Therefore, in terms of extended security and cooperation India could play a significant role in the Baltic economy as well as in its strategic aspirations. The convergence of Indo-Baltic interests lies in multilateral rules-based order, maritime security, terrorism and protecting the freedom of navigation, wherein, India is presently targeting the Indo-Pacific region and the Baltic states are focusing upon the Baltic Sea. In terms of India, developing a stronger Indo-Eurasian ties is yet to become its top priority. However, assessing near future developments in the Baltic states is crucial for India’s future policies in regard to Central Asia, Europe, Russia and even the Arctic Region. But it is evident that the Indo-Baltic principles converge on an ideological front that could further strengthen their partnership.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12
Page(s) 87-90
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Northern Sea Route, Capital Investment, Multilateral Cooperation, Maritime Security

References
[1] Kottookunnel Bhaskaran Usha, “The Evolving Relations India and the Baltic States”, P 94-95. http://lfpr.lt/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/LFPR-27-Usha.pdf.
[2] “India Estonia to strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade and commerce”, The Week, 05 April 2020. https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/international/2019/08/21/fgn22-naidu-estonia.html.
[3] “Indo Latvian Trade”, Embassy of India. https://www.indembassysweden.gov.in/page/indo-latvian-trade-main/.
[4] Paul Gosling, “The Baltic states at the outer edge of the European Union are among the bloc’s smallest, least populous nations, but they are surging ahead in the global fintech race”, ACCA. https://www.accaglobal.com/ca/en/member/member/accounting-business/2019/02/insights/baltic-states.html.
[5] “National Strategy For Artificial Intelligence #AIFORALL” (June 2018), NITI Aayog. https://www.accaglobal.com/ca/en/member/member/accounting-business/2019/02/insights/baltic-states.html.
[6] Vice President’s Secretariat, 19 August 2019, Press Information Bureau, Government of India. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1582368.
[7] James Gordon, “Is America losing out on the Northern Sea Route?”, Raconteur, 10 September 2019. https://www.raconteur.net/finance/maritime-economy-2019/northern-sea-route.
[8] W F Reddaway, Problems of the Baltic, (Cambridge University Press: 1940), P 1-2. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.13780/page/n9/mode/2up.
[9] Jan Hanska, “The Role of the Baltic Region for the United States” (April 2015), The Finnish Institute of International Affairs. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/191013/wp86.pdf.
[10] Department of Defense, The United States of America, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities of 21st Century Defense, P 2-3, January 2012. https://archive.defense.gov/news/defense_strategic_guidance.pdf.
[11] Verslo Zinios, “China’s Belt and Road grip reaches the Baltics – Investigation”, LRT, 16 September 2019. https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1098009/china-s-belt-and-road-grip-reaches-the-baltics-investigation.
[12] Sharanya Rajiv, “Bridging the between India and the Baltics”, International Centre for Defense and Security (ICDS), September 2018. https://icds.ee/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ICDS_EFPI_Policy_Paper_Bridging_the-Gap_Between_India_and_the_Baltics_Rajiv_September_2018.pdf.
[13] Ankita Dutta, “India Baltic Relations: Review of Vice President’s Visit to the Region”, Indian Council of World Affairs, 24 September 2019. https://icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=3&ls_id=324.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Akshay Honmane. (2021). India and the Baltic States: Strengthening the Partnership. Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(4), 87-90. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12

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    ACS Style

    Akshay Honmane. India and the Baltic States: Strengthening the Partnership. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2021, 9(4), 87-90. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12

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    AMA Style

    Akshay Honmane. India and the Baltic States: Strengthening the Partnership. Humanit Soc Sci. 2021;9(4):87-90. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12,
      author = {Akshay Honmane},
      title = {India and the Baltic States: Strengthening the Partnership},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {9},
      number = {4},
      pages = {87-90},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20210904.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20210904.12},
      abstract = {The Baltic Sea Region existing on the crossroads of Europe and Central Asia holds a greater geopolitical significance. The region holds a strong potential to deepen India’s ties with the Europe and Central Asian countries. This article will discuss the prospects of near future areas of cooperation to increase India’s engagement with the Baltic states in terms of Trade, Investments and Strategic partnership. The article will also provide quantitative analysis of the bilateral trade between India and Baltic states while focusing on the scope for trade and investment in specific sectors. Distance being one of the major barriers for increasing cooperation between India and the Baltic states, the efficacy of the Northern Sea route passing through the Bering Strait has been discussed in the paper. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are entrapped between the power politics of US, Russia and now China in the region. Therefore, in terms of extended security and cooperation India could play a significant role in the Baltic economy as well as in its strategic aspirations. The convergence of Indo-Baltic interests lies in multilateral rules-based order, maritime security, terrorism and protecting the freedom of navigation, wherein, India is presently targeting the Indo-Pacific region and the Baltic states are focusing upon the Baltic Sea. In terms of India, developing a stronger Indo-Eurasian ties is yet to become its top priority. However, assessing near future developments in the Baltic states is crucial for India’s future policies in regard to Central Asia, Europe, Russia and even the Arctic Region. But it is evident that the Indo-Baltic principles converge on an ideological front that could further strengthen their partnership.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AB  - The Baltic Sea Region existing on the crossroads of Europe and Central Asia holds a greater geopolitical significance. The region holds a strong potential to deepen India’s ties with the Europe and Central Asian countries. This article will discuss the prospects of near future areas of cooperation to increase India’s engagement with the Baltic states in terms of Trade, Investments and Strategic partnership. The article will also provide quantitative analysis of the bilateral trade between India and Baltic states while focusing on the scope for trade and investment in specific sectors. Distance being one of the major barriers for increasing cooperation between India and the Baltic states, the efficacy of the Northern Sea route passing through the Bering Strait has been discussed in the paper. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are entrapped between the power politics of US, Russia and now China in the region. Therefore, in terms of extended security and cooperation India could play a significant role in the Baltic economy as well as in its strategic aspirations. The convergence of Indo-Baltic interests lies in multilateral rules-based order, maritime security, terrorism and protecting the freedom of navigation, wherein, India is presently targeting the Indo-Pacific region and the Baltic states are focusing upon the Baltic Sea. In terms of India, developing a stronger Indo-Eurasian ties is yet to become its top priority. However, assessing near future developments in the Baltic states is crucial for India’s future policies in regard to Central Asia, Europe, Russia and even the Arctic Region. But it is evident that the Indo-Baltic principles converge on an ideological front that could further strengthen their partnership.
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Author Information
  • Independent Researcher, Mumbai, India

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