2. The committee, in its recommendations said: “…it is imperative that India also has such an Ambassador at a level equivalent to other countries exclusively to deal with polar regions. Creating such a position will not only help India project the importance given to these regions in its foreign policy architecture but will also help put across its policy stance in relation to polar areas or pursue polar diplomacy in a more effective manner.”
3. The Ministry of Earth Science, which works on polar science, said: “India needs to work in the Russian Arctic to have a wholesome idea of the Arctic. The Arctic research station located in Chersky, Sakha in northeast Siberia is one of the world’s three largest Arctic stations which conducts research in Arctic biology, geophysics, and atmospheric physics and being located on frozen Pleistocene sediments that offer an excellent site for permafrost research.”
4. The committee also recommended that the government adopt a suitable strategy to further strengthen its role as a representative of the Global South. It also suggested a greater collaboration between the Asian observers in the Arctic Council in the form of a quadrilateral agreement with Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
5. It also recommended that the arctic policy be expanded from just science-oriented to geopolitics and strategy as the other countries were doing. The committee added that extraction of minerals for active pharmaceutical ingredients, components for air conditioners, and other critical minerals also become an important part of diplomatic dialogue in the region.
What is the Arctic Council?
As per Arctic Council’s official website:
6. It is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic Indigenous Peoples and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.
7. The Arctic Council was established on 19 September 1996 when the governments of Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States signed the Ottawa Declaration. The establishment of the Arctic Council was preceded by the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (June 1991), a declaration on the protection of the Arctic environment.
8. All Arctic Council decisions and statements require consensus of the eight Arctic States. The eight States have territories within the Arctic and thus carry the role of stewards of the region. Their national jurisdictions and international law govern the lands surrounding the Arctic Ocean and its waters.
9. Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to non-Arctic states, along with inter-governmental, inter-parliamentary, global, regional and non-governmental organizations that the Council determines can contribute to its work. Arctic Council Observers primarily contribute through their engagement at the level of Working Groups.
10. The Council’s Strategic Plan 2021-2030 guides its work towards the Arctic as a “region of peace, stability and constructive cooperation, that is a vibrant, prosperous, sustainable and secure home for all its inhabitants, including Indigenous Peoples, and where their rights and wellbeing are respected.”
What is the strategic significance of the Arctic region?
11. The Arctic, the northernmost part of the Earth, covers 4 per cent of the global area and is characterised by harsh climate, very low population density, and underdeveloped resources. It is the region where North America, Europe and Asia all three continents meet.
12. Although the melting of the Arctic has accelerated climatic concerns globally, it is also seen as creating economic prospects, including new maritime trade routes and access to the region’s incredible natural resources. In contrast to the Antarctic, where natural resources are protected by the Madrid Protocol of 1991, the Arctic lacks such protection.
13. The Arctic is rich in natural resources like critical minerals, oil, and natural gas. The melting of ice is making the region more accessible through new maritime routes, thus making it prone to resource exploitation. Melting of sea ice in this region can drastically reduce the travel time between Europe and Asia, which makes the region economically and strategically very important.
(File Photo)
14. Modern technology that facilitated advances in navigation, satellite monitoring, etc., has opened maritime routes through previously unnavigable waters in the region. Northern Sea Route (NSR), also known as Northeast Passage (NEP), is an Arctic shipping route connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier, it was inaccessible due to the presence of thick sea ice, but climate change has led to the receding and thinning of this ice.
15. Growing concerns over energy security and increasing demand for critical minerals are the primary reasons why many countries are looking towards the Arctic’s largely unexploited natural resources.
— For example, China is not an Arctic state but declared itself a ‘near-Arctic state’. In 2018, it initiated a “Polar Silk Road” project through developing the Arctic shipping routes as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative. These expanding interests are unfolding amid growing political fragmentation in the Arctic.
How has India’s Arctic policy evolved?
16. India’s growing Arctic engagement marks a transition from passive observation to active participation, driven by its expanding scientific, economic, environmental, and geopolitical interests in the rapidly changing polar region. India has a long association with the Arctic, as it is one of the signatories of the Svalbard Treaty signed on 9 February 1920 in Paris.
17. However, it was not until 2007 that India’s first scientific expedition to the Arctic was launched, and a research station, Himadri, was established in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in 2008. India got observer status in the Arctic Council in 2013. In 2022, it released its Arctic Policy, which lays down six key pillars:
(1) Strengthening India’s scientific research and cooperation.
(2) Climate and environmental protection.
(3) Economic and human development.
(4) Transportation and connectivity.
(5) Governance and international cooperation.
(6) National capacity building in the Arctic region.
18. A study by India’s National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in 2024 shows that melting in the Arctic impacts upper atmospheric circulation (e.g., Rossby waves and Jet streams), which could also increase the unpredictability of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR).
19. Since 2021, India has been supporting infrastructure development for the Northern Sea Route with Russia to diversify its supply of energy resources and critical minerals. Through this, India wants to further enhance the infrastructure capacity of its Chennai-Vladivostok route, which became operational in 2024. This route reduces the travel time between India and Europe by about two weeks.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: Arctic Amplification and Atlantification
1. The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the global average – a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. Rising temperatures increase evaporation and precipitation and lead to intensification of ‘atmospheric rivers’, which are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere like rivers in the sky.
2. Rising temperatures also induce thawing of permafrost, which releases iron and other toxic metals, thus rusting rivers, degrading their water quality, habitat and biodiversity.
3. The Arctic generally remains snow-covered for much of the year. During 2025 winters, this snowpack was above average but rapid melting occurred in the following spring months. The snow cover in June 2025 was half of what it was in the 1960s. Losing snow cover in late spring and summer months also means exposed surface, which lowers the albedo of the region. This results in more absorption of direct sun rays, further increasing the warming of the region.
4. The sea ice is also vanishing faster, as seen in March 2025, a month which registered the maximum snow extent of the year, recorded its lowest in the 47-year satellite record. The oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice (ice with more than 4 years of lifespan) has witnessed more than 95 per cent decline since the 1980s. Thus, shrinking glaciers, continued warming of the ocean, unprecedented extreme weather events, as well as record heat and record low sea ice are among the major drivers behind the changes in this once reliably frozen region.
5. Another significant consequence is Atlantification – a process where water properties of the Atlantic Ocean located in lower latitudes reach into the Arctic Ocean. Driven mostly by climate change, this phenomenon is increasing and has reached the central Arctic Ocean, causing significant changes like ocean warming, increased mixing of layers of different densities, sea ice loss, shifts in natural ecosystems and threatening ocean circulation patterns.
6. The warmer Arctic is witnessing a rise in phytoplankton productivity and chlorophyll, reshaping fisheries and food security. But these physical and ecological transformations have direct geopolitical consequences, too.
Post Read Questions
(1) Why is India taking a keen interest in the Arctic region? (UPSC CSE, 2018)
(2) How do the melting of the Arctic ice and glaciers of the Antarctic differently affect the weather patterns and human activities on the Earth? Explain. (UPSC CSE, 2021)
(Sources: Appoint Polar Ambassador, become full member of Arctic Council, suggests panel, How Arctic thaw aggravates climate concerns, ignites geopolitical competition, The Russia-China push in the arctic – a new strategic flashpoint)
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The Arctic is fast becoming a theatre of geopolitical competition, climate diplomacy, and resource security, with India steadily expanding its role as a key stakeholder in the region. (File Photo) 
(File Photo)
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