India gains a place in Arctic Council as warming opens north seas

India is among the several countries that were on Wednesday granted permanent observer status on the Arctic Council.

At a meeting in Sweden, the eight members of the council also accepted India's 'big brother' neighbour China along with Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

However following dissent from Canada, a decision on the European Union's application has been deferred.

Welcoming India's admission, an external affairs ministry spokesperson said India would contribute its scientific expertise, particularly its polar research capabilities, to the work of the Arctic Council.

He insisted that India's participation was for scientific purposes and not related to the global greed for oil - which is credible insofar as Indian planners are incapable of long-term thinking.

The permanent observers have no decision making powers. But the opening up of the Arctic to shipping and oil and gas exploitation due to global warming has fuelled worldwide interest in the region.

With a changing climate allowing ships to travel more cheaply and quickly across the Northern route - once upon a time the dream and impossible goal of navigators - Asian countries with shipbuilding industries are particularly interested in closer links to the region and the Council.

Oil explorers have long had a greedy eye on the enormous hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Arctic surface. The thick layer of ice on top has so far made exploitation difficult, but global warming and the thinning ice has made them sit up - no matter what the ecological consequences.

Indeed, it has been argued at seminars during climate change talks in Davos and elsewhere that global warming should be seen not as a threat, but as an opportunity!

There could well be another 'Yukon gold rush' in the offing akin to the one in the 1890s - only, this time the gold will be black in colour.

Countries in or close to the Arctic Circle like the US, Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark and Greenland have taken a natural lead in this direction; India is hoping for some crumbs from the pie. Going by geographical distance as well as traditional ties, Russia would be the most attractive partner for India in this regard.

China is now eyeing new and shorter sea routes, its Polar Research Institute having already made projections on container traffic and trade.

Greenland has already given out over 100 mining leases, causing concern among local people.

At the first Arctic Summit in Oslo in March organised by The Economist, though India was not represented, scientists, indigenous communities and environmentalists sounded a note of caution on exploring the region's undiscovered natural resources. Though India has had a research station there since 2008, China is as usual far ahead in navigating the area.

For the roughly 4.5 million inhabitants of the region, climate change is a reality they have to live with. The thinning ice is making transportation and hunting difficult for native dwellers of the region.

The 60,000 Inuits, represented by Aqqaluk Lynge, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, has appealed to countries in the Arctic Council to be more circumspect in their desire to drill for oil or minerals.

The Arctic Council was set up in the 1990s and has been mainly concerned with environmental matters, including climate change and pollution, both of which are being felt heavily in the Northern regions.

It has eight permanent members made up of the five coastal Arctic countries - Norway, Russia, Canada, US and Denmark. It also includes three non-coastal members - Finland, Iceland and Sweden.

It has limited powers, issuing non-binding protocols on member states - but as the ice recedes and the wider exploitation of the region becomes possible, the rest of world has taken notice and wants to be involved.

Up to 13 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and 30 per cent of undiscovered gas deposits are thought to lie above the Arctic Circle.

The meeting in Kiruna, Sweden also agreed on a new manual that will govern the activities and roles of the observers. They will not be able to directly raise issues but will have to bring them forward through one of the eight core members.

But the Council was unable to agree on the application from the European Union. It is believed that Canada, which has now assumed the chairmanship of the Council, was strongly opposed to the EU getting a permanent observer seat.