India Needs A Coherent Strategy For Arctic Engagement

Why in the News ?

A Parliamentary Standing Committee report has highlighted the gap between India’s Arctic ambitions and capabilities. Despite an Arctic Policy since 2022, India lacks a coherent strategic narrative, adequate funding, dedicated polar infrastructure and coordinated institutional responsibility for addressing the region’s growing climate and geopolitical significance.

Arctic’s Growing Importance for India

●     India’s engagement with the Arctic has traditionally focused on scientific research, but the region is increasingly becoming a centre of climate change, geopolitics, maritime access, energy and critical minerals.

●     Scientific evidence indicates an important Arctic–Indian monsoon linkage, as Arctic warming and declining sea ice can alter atmospheric circulation and influence rainfall patterns across South Asia.

●     Changes in the Arctic can therefore affect India’s agricultural productivity, food security, water availability and economic growth.

●     Accelerated sea-level rise poses serious risks to India’s long coastline and vulnerable coastal communities.

●     The Arctic also has strategic significance because Russia and the U.S., two important Indian partners, are Arctic powers, while China has substantially expanded its Arctic research, infrastructure and shipping activities.

●     India’s historical connection with the region dates back to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, to which India was among the original signatories as part of the British Dominion.

●     India currently maintains the Himadri research station at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, and remains one of only a few developing countries with a permanent scientific presence in the Arctic.

Capability Gaps and Need for Strategic Coordination

●     India spent only around ₹17.53 crore on Arctic activities in 2024-25, less than one-tenth of its expenditure on Antarctica, according to the report.

●     India lacks an indigenous Polar Research Vessel (PRV) capable of undertaking sustained pan-Arctic research and oceanographic missions.

●     Although a PRV was sanctioned in 2014, its delivery has faced prolonged delays.

●     India’s Arctic activities are fragmented across multiple divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs, making a unified policy approach difficult.

●     The absence of an ice-capable vessel restricts India’s access to the wider Arctic Ocean and increases dependence on foreign partners and chartered vessels.

●     China’s investment in icebreakers, polar research and Arctic shipping demonstrates how scientific presence can support wider strategic interests.

●     India therefore needs greater funding, institutional coordination, diplomatic engagement and indigenous polar capabilities.

●     A coherent Arctic narrative should connect climate security, national security, scientific research, maritime interests and economic opportunities.

 About Arctic Region :

●     The Arctic is the region surrounding the North Pole, broadly encompassing the Arctic Ocean and northern parts of eight countries.

●     The eight Arctic states are Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

●     The Arctic Council, established in 1996, is the principal intergovernmental forum for cooperation on Arctic issues.

●     India became an Observer in the Arctic Council in 2013.

●     India’s Arctic Policy, 2022 focuses on areas including scientific research, climate and environmental protection, economic and human development, transportation and connectivity, governance and international cooperation.

●     Himadri, India’s first permanent Arctic research station, was established at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, in 2008.

●     NISERF and other Indian polar institutions contribute to Arctic research involving climate, atmospheric science, glaciology and biodiversity.

●     The Arctic’s rapid warming makes it crucial for understanding global climate systems, sea-level rise and extreme weather patterns.

●     For India, Arctic engagement should therefore move from a predominantly scientific presence towards an integrated climate, economic, diplomatic and strategic approach.