Just a few years ago, trade ties between the Arkhangelsk Region and India were largely symbolic. Today, the picture has changed fundamentally: by the end of 2025, bilateral trade turnover grew by 25%, and India has firmly secured a place among the region’s top five key trading partners. This is no random spike — behind these numbers lies consistent effort and a deliberate turn by both sides toward each other.
The Forum as a Convergence Point
The IV Arctic — Regions Forum became the platform where declarations turned into concrete proposals. Indian representatives were presented with several entry points: using the Port of Arkhangelsk as a transit hub, operating along Northern Sea Route corridors, and — most ambitiously — participating in the construction of a new deep-water district featuring a container terminal with an annual throughput capacity of 15 million tonnes.
The project is being developed with the strategic involvement of Rosatom, which in itself signals the level of federal attention the initiative commands. For India, which is actively expanding its maritime trade footprint, this proposal reads as an invitation to enter infrastructure that will define northern logistics corridors for decades to come.
What Already Exists and What Still Needs to Be Built
Current Indian business interest in the region is specific enough. Top priorities include products from the pulp and paper industry, heat exchange equipment, and the expertise of Arkhangelsk companies in shipbuilding and ship repair. This is not abstract demand — India has the need, and Arkhangelsk has the industrial base to meet it.
However, Governor Alexander Tsybulsky deliberately went beyond the current commodity agenda in his remarks. According to him, the region sees itself not merely as a supplier of individual goods, but as a full-fledged platform for systematic Russian-Indian cooperation along the Northern Sea Route. The distinction is fundamental: the former means transactions, the latter means the architecture of a long-term partnership.
India’s Role: Not Just a Buyer, But a Route Builder
A critically important emphasis made at the forum: the Indian side was offered not the role of a passive cargo shipper, but that of an active participant. The conversation covered jointly shaping cargo bases, developing logistics services tailored to specific freight flows, and investing in infrastructure facilities.
This is a logical framing of the issue. The Northern Sea Route is competitive only when there is a stable and predictable cargo flow. The more major players participate in building that flow, the more economically sustainable the route becomes for each of them. India, with its volumes of foreign trade, is exactly the kind of partner capable of giving the NSR a new dimension.
The Next Step: A Conversation Without Intermediaries
Forum rhetoric is a necessary but insufficient stage. Both sides understand this. The next phase has been outlined: direct dialogue between Russian and Indian companies, with a detailed breakdown of route economics — which goods, in what volumes, under what conditions, and with what margins can be moved through Arkhangelsk. This is precisely where abstract interest must translate into a commercial decision.
The stakes are high for both parties. Arkhangelsk has the opportunity to become not a regional, but an international logistics centre. India gains an alternative route at a time when diversifying trade corridors has shifted from a strategic option to a practical necessity.