India hosts the Antarctic Parliament: The history of the Antarctic Treaty

Tussle over territory

Parts of mainland Antarctica were first spotted by British, American, and Russian ships in the 1820s, but the region did not come under the spotlight until the race to reach the South Pole heated up, according to KM Shusterich’s 1984 article, ‘The Antarctic Treaty System: History, Substance, and Speculation’, published by the International Journal (IJ). The competition was between Captain Robert Scott from the United Kingdom and Roald Amundsen from Norway — Amundsen won, becoming the first person to reach the South Pole on December 15, 1911.

By the 1950s, seven countries — Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK — made formal territorial claims over the continent. Some of these claims, however, overlapped with each other, leading to conflict. The United States, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Japan, and South Africa also explored the continent but did not make any territorial claims.

“Only five claimants (Australia, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom) mutually recognise[d] each other’s claims. Of particular concern..[were] the claims of Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom,” Shusterich wrote.

Antarctica, Research Stations and Territorial Claims. [Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 1984] Map. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress.Between 1947 and 1955, Argentina and Chile twice rejected the British proposal to go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and sort out their overlapping claims. “Both nations insisted that their sovereignty was unquestionable and that no third power could judge their domestic territorial claims,” Shusterich wrote.

As a result, several attempts were made to enact an international agreement over the control of Antarctica.

In 1956, India requested the United Nations to include ‘the question of Antarctica’ on the provisional agenda of the United Nations General Assembly. “India’s goals were to ensure international agreement that the development of Antarctica resources would be for peaceful purposes, that the area would be non-militarised, that nuclear weapons testing would be banned, and that the future disputes would be referred to the International Court,” Shusterich wrote.

The proposal fell apart due to the opposition from Argentina and Chile, and no support from the US and the Soviet Union.

A major breakthrough

A major breakthrough came during the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year (IGY), where 12 countries — Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Japan, and South Africa — agreed to not let their political and legal differences to hinder the scientific research in Antarctica. They also consented to allow countries working in Antarctica to place their scientific stations anywhere on the continent, regardless of territorial claims.

The success of IGY built momentum for an international agreement over Antarctica. On May 2, 1958, the US proposed other IGY participant countries to join “in a treaty designed to preserve the continent as an international laboratory for scientific research and ensure that it be used only for peaceful purposes,” Shusterich wrote. The countries were invited to Washington DC to negotiate this treaty.

The Conference of Antarctica went on from October 15 to December 1, 1959, and gave birth to the Antarctic Treaty. The agreement came at a time when the US and the Soviet Union were in the midst of the Cold War (1947-1991).

Speaking to The Indian Express over email, Donald R Rothwell, Professor of International Law at the Australian National University, said that the US and Soviet Union agreed to sign the treaty as they were anxious that their rivalry could spill over to Antarctica. “Given the absence of them having made a territorial claim, they  were prepared to continue to engage in Antarctic affairs for scientific purposes,” Rothwell said.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed by all the 12 IGY participants and came into force in 1961. It contained only 14 articles and froze the disputes between territorial claims over Antarctica. Its key provisions limited countries from making new territorial claims, banned militarisation and nuclear testing, promoted scientific research, etc.

Currently, 56 countries are part of the treaty — 29 of which, including all 12 original signatories, are ‘Consultative Parties’, which are part of the decision making process. India, which joined the treaty in 1983, is also a Consultative Party.

Reasons behind the treaty’s success

The treaty has been able to survive over the years as it strikes a fine balance between specificity and vagueness, according to Shusterich.

“The treaty promotes compromise rather than conflict; it instils a sense of exclusivity for the consultative parties, yet invites all nations to join. The treaty states that ‘it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes,’” Shusterich wrote.

Another reason for its success is that the treaty has been able to evolve to address new challenges from time to time. Rothwell said several additional conventions and other legal protocols have dealt with issues like marine conservation, prohibition on mining, and protection of Antarctica’s environment.

Although the treaty has resolved several problems, it still faces a bumpy road ahead. The biggest challenge is climate change — the continent has been witnessing record-breaking high temperatures and the ice coverage hit its lowest levels last year since the record keeping began. The spike in tourism-related activities in recent years is also a concern.

Paul Berkman, former head of the Arctic Ocean Geopolitics Program at Cambridge University in England, told NBC News: “It illustrates the bigger challenge we have as a civilisation and that’s understanding the concept of time… Most of the decision-making is done in an electoral cycle, but the types of problems we need to address and solve as a civilization require that we look decades — even centuries — into the future.”