Arctic Council

• At the Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi, Finland, India was re-elected as an Observer to the Arctic Council.

• India was first granted the Observer status in 2013, along with five other nations.

Arctic Council

• The Council was established by the eight Arctic States — the countries whose territories fall in the Arctic region — through the Ottawa Declaration of 1996.
• Arctic Council Member Statesare Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America.

• They are the only members of the Arctic Council.
• Six organizations representing the indigenous people of the Arctic region have been granted the status of permanent participants.

• All decision-making happens through consensus between the eight members, and in consultation with the permanent participants.
• The Council is not a treaty-based international legal entity like the UN bodies or trade, military or regional groupings like WTO, NATO &
• It is only an intergovernmental ‘forum’ to promote cooperation in regulating the activities in the Arctic region. It is much more informal grouping.
• Chairmanship of the Council rotates every two years. The current chair is Iceland, which serves until the Ministerial meeting in 2021.

Aim

• The overall objectives of Arctic Council are conserving the pristine environment, biodiversity, and the interests and well-being of the local populations.

Observers

• Observer status is open to non-Arctic states approved by the Council at the Ministerial Meetings that occur once every two years.
• Observers have no voting rights in the Council.
• The following 13 Countries are the Observers of the council along with India.

1. France
2. Germany
3. Italian Republic
4. Japan
5. The Netherlands
6. People's Republic of China
7. Poland
8. Republic of India
9. Republic of Korea
10. Republic of Singapore
11. Spain
12. Switzerland
13. United Kingdom

• 13 intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary organizations like the UN Environment Programme, and the UN Development Programme.
• 12 other non-governmental organizations are also an Observer to this council.

• Along with India these five other countries China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore had been given the Observer status in 2013.
• Prior to this group, only France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom were granted Observer status.
• In 2017, Switzerland too became an Observer.
• The Observers are not part of the decision-making processes, but they are invited to attend the meetings of the Council, especially at the level of the working groups.
• The Observer status is granted to entities that support the objectives of the Arctic Council.

India in Arctic region

• India is one of the very few countries to set up a permanent station in the Arctic for the purposes of scientific research.
• The polar regions offer some unique opportunities to carry out research related to atmospheric and climate sciences that cannot be done anywhere else.

Himadri

• The Himadri research station, located in Ny Alesund, Svalbard in Norway, about 1200 km south of the North Pole, was started in July 2008.
• The Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCOAR) is the nodal organization coordinating the research activities at this station.

• Himadri came on the back of India’s three-decade experience of carrying out scientific research in the polar regions of Antarctica which began in 1981.

India - Antarctic

• Dakshin Gangotri - India’s first permanent station in Antarctica was set up way back in 1983.

• Maitri – Set up by India in 1989 on the Schirmacher Oasis
  • India built a freshwater lake around Maitri known as Lake Priyadarshini.
• Bharati - Established in 2015.
  • Located beside Larsmann Hill

Economic Interest

• The Arctic region is very rich in some minerals, and oil and gas.
• With some parts of the Arctic melting due to global warming, the region also opens up the possibility of new shipping routes that can reduce existing distances.
• The Arctic Council does not prohibit the commercial exploitation of resources in the Arctic.
• It only seeks to ensure that it is done in a sustainable manner without harming the interests of local populations and in conformity with the local environment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -