India-Sweden Webinar-III: Bridging Continents: India-Sweden as the Key to Nordic Engagement

India and Sweden share a dynamic partnership based on shared values of democracy, innovation, and sustainability. Over the years, Sweden has emerged as one of India’s closest European partners, with strong cooperation in areas such as trade, green technology, digital innovation, and defense. As global geopolitical and economic landscapes evolve, Sweden’s role as a key interlocutor for India in the broader Nordic region has become increasingly significant. Sweden’s deep economic, political, and technological integration with its Nordic neighbors makes it a strategic entry point for India to expand its engagement with the region as a whole.  

India’s interactions with the Nordic region have gained momentum through mechanisms such as the India-Nordic Summit, the India-EU Strategic Partnership, and growing bilateral engagements. However, given Sweden’s historical diplomatic engagement with India and its leadership in Nordic collaborations, it remains a particularly crucial partner in facilitating deeper India-Nordic cooperation. Furthermore, Sweden’s demonstrated commitment to fostering regional cooperation, as seen in its leadership within the Nordic Council, provides a model for India to emulate and engage.  

Besides, Sweden’s experience in coordinating Nordic-Baltic platforms also offers valuable insights for developing structured, multilateral policy frameworks. Renewable energy, AI, and maritime security emerge as key sectors where Nordic expertise and Indian capabilities can complement each other effectively. Sweden’s advocacy for inclusive economic security aligns with India’s aspirations for greater integration into global supply chains. Events like the International Day of Yoga in Stockholm and Indian delegations to Nordic institutions highlight the cultural and academic bridges already in place.  

This webinar, third in the series, co-organised by the Embassy of India in Sweden in cooperation with the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) seeks to examine whether Sweden can serve as a gateway for India’s broader Nordic engagement, exploring pathways for enhanced bilateral and regional collaboration across critical sectors. This discussion will focus on identifying the potential of India-Sweden ties in unlocking opportunities for India-Nordic cooperation. The webinar will assess the role of Sweden in bridging India’s relations with other Nordic nations and explore key sectors that could benefit from enhanced regional partnerships. 

Key questions guiding the discussion include: 

• Is Sweden a gateway for India’s engagement with the Nordic region? If so, what factors make it the most suitable partner? 
• What lessons can be drawn from the India-Sweden partnership to enhance India’s engagement with other Nordic countries? 
• How can Sweden facilitate India’s deeper integration into Nordic-led innovation ecosystems, particularly in sustainability and digital transformation? 
• What are the most promising areas of cooperation that India and the Nordic region can collectively explore, such as renewable energy, AI, and maritime security? 
• How can India and Sweden work together to institutionalize a long-term India-Nordic strategic framework? 
• What role can trade and investment play in strengthening India-Nordic economic ties, and how can Sweden serve as a conduit for greater economic integration? 
• How can India’s Act East and Make in India policies align with Sweden’s expertise in advanced manufacturing, digitalization, and green technologies? 
• In what ways can Sweden’s diplomatic influence within the Nordic Council and European Union facilitate stronger India-Nordic cooperation? 
• How can people-to-people exchanges, academic collaborations, and business partnerships enhance India’s long-term presence in the Nordic region?

Through this discussion, the webinar aims to highlight the strategic importance of Sweden in shaping India’s engagement with the Nordic region. By exploring key areas of collaboration and institutional mechanisms, the dialogue will provide insights into building a future-ready partnership that strengthens India-Nordic ties through Sweden’s pivotal role. 

Speakers:

Dr. Henrik Chetan Aspengren is a researcher and senior analyst, currently leading the “Project for Nordic-India Relations” at UI’s Asia Programme. PNIR is UI’s main platform for research, analysis and expertise on India, and India’s role in world affairs. As a trained historian, Aspengren brings his academic research interest in the history of modern India to his analytical work on contemporary India and its growing global footprint. In his current project at UI Aspengren works closely with the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi. Aspengren holds a Ph.D. from SOAS, University of London, and is the author of books, journal articles, and reports on India and South Asia.

Dr. Swasti Rao is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Global Initiatives at the O.P. Jindal Global University, India. She is a geopolitical expert Commentator and Author. She is currently Non- Resident Fellow at Eastern Circles, Paris and a Contributor to The Print. Dr. Swasti has worked at the prestigious Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(MP-IDSA), India’s premier think tank under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence. At MP-IDSA, Swasti worked on projects for the Ministry for External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence on European geopolitics and geo-economics. Her research project at MP-IDSA has been on Conflicts in Europe amidst Shifting Power Structures and Europe’s Indo-Pacific outreach.

Mr. Henrik S. Werenskiold is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Geopolitika.no, a newly established Norwegian-language journal about global geopolitics and international affairs from a realist perspective. Before starting Geopolitika, Werenskiold worked as a foreign affairs journalist and later as a foreign affairs editor at the Norwegian newspaper Resett. Werenskiold is also active in the think tank world. He has previously served as an advisor for the Norwegian think tank Center for International and Strategic Analysis and is now serving as an advisor for Western European affairs for the Georgian think tank Geocase and the Armenian Institute for Resilience and Statecraft.

Dr. Swati Prabhu is an Associate Fellow with the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the Observer Research Foundation. Her research explores the interlinkages between development partnerships and sustainable development. Swati’s broader research interests include India-EU relations, EU development policy, and the environment. She completed her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on the European Union’s development policy and environment focusing on the challenges of the SDGs. Prior to ORF, Swati was Junior Fellow at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. In 2018, she was selected as an Erasmus+ Mobility Fellow from JNU as a PhD exchange student to visit the Department of Political Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain. Swati has authored several policy briefs on furthering India-EU relations for the EU-India Think Tanks Twinning Initiative (EUITTI). She also regularly writes for The Telegraph.

Moderator:

Dr. Jagannath Panda is the Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Sweden. Dr. Panda is also a Professor at the Department of Regional and Global Studies at the University of Warsaw; and a Senior Fellow at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies in the Netherlands. As a senior expert on China, East Asia, and Indo-Pacific affairs, Prof. Panda has testified to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission at the US Congress on ‘China and South Asia’. He is the Series Editor for Routledge Studies on Think Asia.