NEW DELHI, December 26. /TASS/. India and Russia are exploring joint logistics and shipbuilding projects along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Russia’s Trade Representative in India Andrey Sobolev told TASS.

The Northern Sea Route is a promising area of Russian-Indian cooperation, he said. "At the intergovernmental level, targets for the formation of a sustainable cargo base have been agreed upon, economic parameters for transportation and the possibilities of joint logistics and shipbuilding projects are being developed," Sobolev said, adding that this reflects growing practical interest from businesses in this route in the medium and long term.

The transport and logistics component is acquiring strategic importance in cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi, the trade envoy noted. He recalled that the North-South International Transport Corridor, as well as alternative maritime routes, are viewed as tools for increasing the sustainability of trade flows and reducing logistics costs. "Business interest in these areas is steadily growing, as evidenced by an increase in transportation volumes in both the western and eastern directions," Sobolev said.

The Northern Sea Route is a shipping route and the main sea line in the Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches along Russia’s northern coastline across the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Bering seas). The route consolidates Russia’s European and Far Eastern ports and Siberia’s navigable rivers into a single transport system. The route’s length is 5,600 km, stretching from the Kara Strait to Providence Bay. The North-South International Transport Corridor is a multimodal route for transporting passengers and cargoes from Asia to Europe via Russia. It connects Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and India.