KRASNOYARSK, May 8. /TASS/. The escalating military conflict between India and Pakistan will endanger the safety of navigation in the Indian ocean, raising other countries’ interest in the Northern Sea Route, Alexander Vorotnikov, expert council coordinator at the Arctic Development Project Office and associate professor with the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, told TASS.
India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, striking "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan. Islamabad closed the country’s airspace for 48 hours and carried out counterattacks.
"As a result of the conflict, the Northern Sea Route is naturally starting to look safer. Many Asian countries, especially those friendly towards Russia, will certainly prefer to use the Northern Sea Route because nothing is as expensive as security. Any further escalation of the conflict will only increase the number of those using the Northern Sea Route," Vorotnikov pointed out. According to him, the military conflict will threaten navigation in this part of the Indian Ocean.
The Northern Sea Route is the shortest water route between Russia’s European part and the Far East and the main maritime thoroughfare in the Russian part of the Arctic. The route’s length is 5,600 km, stretching from the Kara Strait to Providence Bay.