India urges more nations to join Treaty to protect Antarctica

Regarding the key decisions announced at the Kochi meet held from May 20-30, Thamban Meloth, director of National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, told The Indian Express, ” India wishes to stay neutral with respect to our geopolitical policies in Antarctica. We believe that the Antarctic Treaty should be an all inclusive community. The future of Antarctica requires more responsible nations joining the Treaty.”

NCPOR, through the Ministry of Earth Sciences, had spearheaded the fortnight-long international meet.

Antarctica is beyond the bounds of governance and regulations existing anywhere in the mainland countries. So, there have been increased attempts to promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) for preserving the wilderness and pristine environment of Antarctica in recent years.

Further, the recent meet also saw India underscore the need to regulate tourism activities in Antarctica. For the first time in the history of ATCMs, India introduced the third working group of nations and tasked them to frame policies and regulations which will help practice responsible and sustainable tourism in Antarctica.

M Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES, had said last week, “Tourism in Antarctica is escalating in an exponential way. Last year, one lakh people visited Antarctica. In order to keep the Antarctic environment clean, there needs to be some measures and rules of procedures for Antarctic tourism.”

India had, for the first time, tabled concerns pertaining to tourism in Antarctica at the ATCM meet in New Delhi in 2007.

“Since then, India has been advocating regulated tourism. And this year at the Kochi ATCM, India could initiate the process of creating a framewor.,” Meloth added.

India, as a Consultative Treaty Party since 1983, has been regularly sending scientific expeditions to Antarctica. India operates Maitri and Bharati research bases, both in summer and winter months.

Importantly, in the Kochi meet, India announced its decision to build a successor to the 35-year-old Maitri station. Now, India will chalk out a plan and propose a design which will be reviewed for environment compliance before further steps towards construction are initiated.

This year, Saudi Arabia was awarded to become a Treaty member taking the total Antarctic Treaty parties now to 57. The ATCM meeting at Kochi also held deliberations on preventing the invasion of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.