The foreign minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre is on an official visit to India from March 1-3 . Støre and the Indian external affairs minister, SM Krishna will co-chair the 4th meeting of India-Norway Joint Commission on 2 March 2010 during which they will discuss the entire gamut of India-Norway bilateral relations. The two Ministers will also hold talks on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

In addition, Støre will meet the Indian minister of commerce and industry, Anand Sharma and the National Security Advisor, Shiv Shankar Menon. The foreign minister of Norway today inaugurated a seminar on maritime security organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies.

India has sought Norwegian investment in the telecom sector and bilateral cooperation in renewable energy, hydropower and hydrocarbon sector. India has also mooted cooperation in shipping, fisheries, knowledge-based economy and space technology.

India-Norway bilateral trade is around US$ 1 billion. About 70 Norwegian companies are present in India with a cumulative investment of UD$ 1.5 billion. Indian companies have invested in Norway to the tune of US$ 1.8 billion. As Norway has the second largest Sovereign Fund in the world to the tune of US$ 460 billion, India is interested in attracting investment particularly in the energy sector, including offshore technology for oil exploration. Norway is the 5th largest exporter of fossil oil and 4th largest exporter of natural gas.

The Australian foreign minister, Stephen Smith is on a three-day visit to India from March 2. He will meet the commerce and industry minister, Anand Sharma, HRD minister, Kapil Sibal and external affairs minister, SM Krishna.

India is not likely to much raise the issue of attacks on Indian students in Australia. “We are pleased with the slew of measures taken by Australia to curb the violence on Indians,” said the spokesman of the external affairs ministry, Vishnu Prakash.

India is likely to discuss with Australia areas of cooperation in the energy sector like nuclear energy, coal and natural gas. Australia is a major producer of coal and natural gas.