Prelims: Current events of national and international importance.
Why in the News?
During a historic state visit to Oslo, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store officially upgraded bilateral ties to a Green Strategic Partnership.
Highlights of Summit 2026
- 12 Bilateral Agreements - The two nations signed twelve pacts covering critical sectors, including space, health, and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
- Royal Honor - King Harald V conferred the Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit upon the Indian Prime Minister.
Significance of the Upgrade
- EFTA TEPA Implementation - The partnership accelerates the India-EFTA (European Free Trade Association) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, which targets $100 billion in investments and one million jobs over 15 years.
- Green Shipping Transition - It merges India’s extensive manufacturing capacity with Norway’s technical expertise in green hydrogen and ammonia-based shipping to create low-emission maritime transport networks.
Geography in Focus: Kingdom of Norway
- Political Profile - It is a Nordic sovereign state and a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with its capital at Oslo.
- Border Nations - Located in Northern Europe with long coastlines along the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, Norway shares land borders with three nations: Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
Geological & Hydrographic Features:
- Glaciated Fjord Topography - Deeply indented, rugged coastlines characterized by fjords—long, narrow inlets with steep cliffs carved out by retreating glaciers during past ice ages.
- The Scandinavian Mountains - An ancient mountain range running south to north. It contains Galdhopiggen (2,469 meters), the highest peak in Northern Europe.
- Arctic Archipelagoes - Norway holds absolute sovereignty over ecologically critical remote territories in the Arctic Ocean, specifically the Svalbard Archipelago and Jan Mayen Island.
- Hydrographic Abundance - Due to fast-flowing rivers fed by mountainous snowmelt, Norway generates over 95% of its domestic electricity completely from hydropower.
- Strandflat- A unique, low-lying platform of land and shallow reefs wrapping around the coast, which serves as the foundation for the country's massive aquaculture and fishing industries.
For Reference : The Hindu | IAS Parliament
