{"id":333959,"date":"2025-04-23T18:44:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=333959"},"modified":"2025-04-23T18:44:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:14:50","slug":"indias-potential-in-arctic-region-explained-pointwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-potential-in-arctic-region-explained-pointwise\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s potential in Arctic region &#8211; Explained pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The melting of the Arctic region, though is an impending climatic catastrophe, however, it also presents an opportunity for great geopolitical leverage as sea levels continue to rise which leads to emergence of new trade routes. This emerging commercial opportunity becomes even more important because of the potential headwinds from the tariffs imposed by the USA as well as development of partnerships between countries around supply chains &amp; trade routes and also because of the climate change. Thus, it becomes important to analyse the situation from India\u2019s point of view.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;text-align: center\"><strong>Table of Content\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%\"><a href=\"#h1\">What is the significance of Arctic region\u2019s melting?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h2\">What are the initiatives of India for Arctic region?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"#h3\">What can be the way forward?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"h1\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What is the significance of Arctic region\u2019s melting?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1.<\/strong> <strong>Climate Change Amplifier (Arctic Amplification):<\/strong> The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average\u2014a phenomenon called Arctic Amplification. As sea ice melts, white ice (which reflects sunlight) is replaced by dark ocean (which absorbs heat), further accelerating warming. This disrupts weather patterns worldwide, including the jet stream, contributing to extreme events like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heatwaves in Europe and Asia<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Harsh winters in North America<\/li>\n<li>Unseasonal rainfall or droughts globally<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>2. Resources:<\/strong> The region is estimated to hold 13% of the world\u2019s undiscovered oil, 30% of untapped natural gas, Rich deposits of rare earth elements and copper &amp; valuable fishing grounds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>3.<\/strong> <strong>Northern Sea Route:<\/strong> According to NASA, the Arctic sea ice is melting at a rate of 12.2% per decade &#8211; which will eventually lead to the opening up of a new trade route called Northern Sea Route &#8211; connecting the Atlantic &amp; the Pacific Oceans across the North Pole. The NSR is being hailed as the shortest route between Europe &amp; Asia. India\u2019s long term approach to explore new mega ports &amp; new trade routes for not economic but also geopolitical significance also makes the NSR crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong><a id=\"h2\"><\/a>What are the initiatives of India for Arctic region?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1.<\/strong> <strong>Svalbard Treaty (1920):<\/strong>\u00a0India began its engagement with the Arctic early by signing the Svalbard Treaty in 1920.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>2. Himadri<\/strong> = India is the only developing country, besides China, that has an Arctic research base &#8211; Himadri.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>3. India\u2019s Arctic Policy (2022):<\/strong> This policy outlines India&#8217;s approach to its engagement with the Arctic region, recognizing the Arctic&#8217;s growing importance due to climate change, economic opportunities, and geopolitical shifts. The policy is structured around 6 main pillars i.e. Science &amp; Research, Climate &amp; Environment Protection, Economic &amp; Human Development, Transportation &amp; Connectivity, Governance &amp; International Cooperation &amp; lastly, National Capacity Building.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>4. Monsoon Research:<\/strong>\u00a0 Institute of Governance &amp; Sustainable Development and the National Council of Applied Economic Research collaborated recently to understand how changes in the Arctic, particularly the loss of sea ice, could influence India\u2019s monsoon pattern &amp; agricultural output.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>5. Observer Status in Arctic Council:<\/strong> India has held Observer status in the Arctic Council since 2013, participating in various working groups and contributing to scientific research.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>6. Arctic Circle India Forum:<\/strong> The Arctic Circle India Forum is an upcoming international conference scheduled to take place in May &amp; it reflects the growing importance of the Arctic region for India.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>7. Research Initiatives:<\/strong> The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa leads India&#8217;s Arctic research, including the establishment of a research base in Svalbard, Norway.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>8. Scientific Expeditions:<\/strong> India has conducted multiple scientific expeditions to the Arctic, focusing on climate change studies and environmental monitoring.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>9. India-Russia Collaboration:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Establishment of a working group on the NSR under the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical &amp; cultural cooperation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor also emerges as a potential bridge to the NSR ports such as Pevek, Tiksi &amp; Sabetta.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"h3\"><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000\">What can be the way forward?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>1. Shipbuilding:<\/strong>\u00a0India needs to boost its shipbuilding capacity to sail through the turbulent waters of NSR &amp; grab the opportunity with both hands. It needs to increase the range, categories &amp; capacity of the ships to suit the Arctic\u2019s requirement &amp; handle its harsh environment. India needs to make adequate investments in ice-breaking fleets &amp; other structural upgrades to compete globally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>2. Multilateral engagements:<\/strong> India needs to leverage the platforms like Arctic Circle India Forum to help contextualise the dialogue from an Asia- and India-focused lens. The forum should serve as an impetus to move the needle forward on India\u2019s Arctic policy with stakeholder consultations &amp; forging of partnerships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>3. \u2018Polar\u2019 Ambassador:<\/strong> Recent developments have seen multiple nations appointing ambassadors to represent their interests in the Arctic region, reflecting the area&#8217;s growing geopolitical and environmental significance such as USA &amp; Greenland appointing their respective Arctic Ambassadors. India can also take a leaf out of their books &amp; appoint a Polar Ambassador for streamlining its efforts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>4. Balance between Russia &amp; USA:<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Russia with its vast Arctic coastline, extensive experience in Arctic navigation, training of personnel apart from being a trusted partner of India, is an obvious partner for India to explore the NSR. However, India\u2019s incline towards the Russian Bloc would be implying support to China&#8217;s Polar Silk Road, which China is building as a northern extension of its Belt &amp; Road Initiative &#8211; which India strongly opposes. Moreover, NSR is providing a much greater opportunity for China to not only grab control over the Arctic route but to completely bypass the Malacca strait choke point in the Indian Ocean. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On the other hand, if India supports the Western Bloc &amp; partners with the U.S., it could lose its perceived stake in the massive resources that currently fall under the Russian Sphere of Influence. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thus, India needs to balance USA &amp; Russia and partner with like-minded nations like Japan &amp; South Korea which share similar concerns about growing cooperation between Russia &amp; China in the Arctic region. The trio should advocate the rectification of disparities within the Arctic Council &amp; promote a more inclusive &amp; equitable Council.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While the commercial advantages of the Arctic melting are significant\u2014fueling economic activity, investment, and geopolitical interest\u2014they also come with high environmental risks, geopolitical competition &amp; calls for sustainable and regulated development. Thus, it provides a double-edged opportunity &#8211; which India needs to smartly grab with both hands while preventing the reckless exploitation of the Arctic reserves.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 914.64px\"><strong>Read More<\/strong> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/exploring-indias-potential-in-the-arctic-region\/article69477957.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>UPSC Syllabus GS 1<\/strong> &#8211; Critical geographical features, including water-bodies &amp; ice-caps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The melting of the Arctic region, though is an impending climatic catastrophe, however, it also presents an opportunity for great geopolitical leverage as sea levels continue to rise which leads to emergence of new trade routes. This emerging commercial opportunity becomes even more important because of the potential headwinds from the tariffs imposed by the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-potential-in-arctic-region-explained-pointwise\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">India\u2019s potential in Arctic region &#8211; Explained pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10391,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}