Way Ahead for India’s Polar Policies

In this chapter, the authors discuss India’s activities after the release of its Arctic policy. An analysis of India’s Arctic policy reveals that while it is a step forward in articulating India’s interest, its major Achilles’ heel is that it does not have a plan in the public domain. Over 2 years after the policy’s release, India’s government has yet to outline a specific action plan. This is not to state that no action has taken place. Some of the measures that have been taken are highlighted in the chapter. In May 2023, a cabinet ministerial berth was allocated to a ministry that had been formed only seventeen years ago. It may be recalled that the Ministry started off as the Department of Ocean Sciences in 1981. Kiren Rijiju was appointed as the Cabinet Minister of Earth Sciences, MoES. India organised its first Greenland EGRIP field camp and collection of ice core in July 2023. In August, a new research team joined up with the Canadian Arctic shared research station, CHARS. On December 18, 2023, India launched its first ever winter expedition to the Arctic. According to Dr M Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES, “The launch of winter expeditions marks an important milestone for India’s Arctic endeavours, which opens more avenues for us to expand our scientific capabilities in Earth’s poles”. All these activities were meant to show India’s commitment towards scientific research in the Arctic. Notwithstanding, with an annual expenditure of Rs 10-odd crores (equivalent to about 120,000 USD) for Arctic research, Indian investments and the late launch of India’s winter scientific expedition reveal that India’s Arctic engagement does not match its rhetoric. The authors argue that questions remain about the depth of Arctic scientific research for India. In addition, the authors suggests specific steps that could be taken to improve policy implementation.