India And The Arctic

Arctic region, the enormous area around the North Pole spreading over one-sixth of the earth’s landmass (approximately the size of Russia, China and India put together), is increasingly being effected by external global forces — environmental, commercial and strategic and in turn is poised to play an increasingly greater role in shaping the course of world affairs.

By far Climate Change and the resultant rapid melting of the Arctic Ice cap is the most important phenomenon that is redefining the global perspective on the Arctic. Current scientific consensus indicates the Arctic may experience nearly ice free summers as early as 2030’s opening up enormous opportunities as well as challenges not only for the littoral states but also the international community as a whole. While the attraction of Arctic oil and gas reserves, unexploited marine living resources and shorter shipping routes connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans is undeniable, the adversarial impact of melting Arctic Ice cap on the indigenous communities, the marine ecosystems and aggravation of global warming is equally undeniable.

Antarctica, though uninhabited, is governed by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty ensuring that it is used for exclusively peaceful purposes. There is no similar international regime for the Arctic. This was perhaps because of the particular characteristics of the Arctic but also because of the Cold War. In the Post Cold War era a move towards cooperative arrangements for managing the Arctic region led the establishment of Arctic Council.

Arctic Council

The Arctic Council is a high level intergovernmental body set up in 1996 by the Ottawa Declaration to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States together with the indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants. The Council has the eight circumpolar countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland and Faroe Islands), Canada, US and Russia) as member states and is mandated to protect the Arctic environment and promote the economies and social and cultural well-being of the indigenous peoples whose organizations are permanent participants in the council.

Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to Non-governmental organizations, Non-littoral states as well as to Intergovernmental and Inter-Parliamentary organisations. With 6 new countries inducted as observers in May 2013 the Arctic Council currently has 12 observers.

Working Group

The Council members meet biannually and the Chairmanship if the Arctic Council rotates every two years. There are six working groups a) Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP); Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP); (c) Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF);(d) Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR); (e)Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME); and (f) Sustainable Development Working Group(SDWG). On the agenda of the Arctic Council are issues relating to shipping regulations, maritime boundaries, search and rescue responsibilities and to devise strategies to mitigate the adversarial impact of the melting of Arctic ice cap.