India’s Arctic imperative

• Himadri, India’s research station in the International Arctic Research Base at Svalbard in Norway, had until then hosted missions only in the summer.
• A winter expedition entails living in the intense cold (as low as -15 degrees Celsius) after a period of rigorous acclimatisation.

Growing interest in the Arctic

• For over a decade, India’s National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research saw no reason for a winter mission to the Arctic.
• What changed Indian policy, ostensibly, was scientific data showing that the Arctic was warming faster than previously thought.
• New Delhi is seized by the opening up of Arctic Sea routes, primarily the Northern Sea Route, and would like to route Indian trade through the region.
• This might help India reduce costs for shipping companies along with time, fuel, and security costs for transmitting goods.
• China’s growing investments in the Arctic have raised concern in India.
• Russia’s decision to grant China expanded access to the Northern Sea Route has deepened this anxiety.
• India involvement in the region goes back to 1920, with the signing of the Svalbard Treaty in Paris.
• In 2007, India undertook its first research mission to investigate Arctic microbiology, atmospheric sciences, and geology.
• A year later, India became the only developing country, aside from China, to establish an Arctic research base.
• After being granted ‘observer’ status by the Arctic Council in 2013, India commissioned a multi-sensor moored observatory in Svalbard in 2014 and an atmospheric laboratory in 2016.
• The work at these stations focuses on examining Arctic ice systems and glaciers and the consequences of Arctic melt on the Himalayas and the Indian monsoon.

Potential for collaboration

• Norway, the present chair of the Arctic Council, has close ties with India.
• Since the late 1980s, the two countries have collaborated to investigate changing conditions in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as their impact on South Asia.
• India’s present policy is to cooperate with Arctic countries in green energy, and green and clean industries, as a way of bolstering its ‘responsible stakeholder’ credentials.
• With Denmark and Finland, for instance, Indian collaboration has come in areas such as waste management, pollution control, renewable energy, and green technology.
• While the Indian government seems keen to benefit from seabed mining and resource exploitation in the Arctic, it ought to unequivocally back a sustainable mode of extraction.
• These are two of the six pillars that comprise India’s Arctic Policy (the other four being economic and human development; transportation and connectivity; governance and international cooperation; and national capacity building).

Conclusion

• India would perhaps still look to explore economic opportunities in the Arctic.
• Norway could, then, help India design a sustainable policy that accommodates the needs of both the scientific community and industry.
• As global geopolitical tensions are also mounting in the Arctic, finding constructive and non-sensitive ways to alleviate pressure will be in the interest of both India and Norway.