A slice of the Arctic - Indian Express

: Sun Jun 09 2013, 01:19 hrs On May 15, 12 nations, including India, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, joined the Arctic Council as permanent observers, joining 26 current ones. But why this interest in the Arctic, the land of unforgiving snow, that frigid outpost that is the northernmost tip of the globe? THE ARCTIC COUNCIL The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. Only states with territory in the Arctic can be members of the Council. All eight countries are members, making the Arctic Council a circumpolar forum. The member-countries are: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States (Alaska). The Council also has permanent and ad-hoc observer countries and "permanent participants". Now, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain and United Kingdom have been made permanent observers. As observers, they cannot speak or vote but they can use their growing economic clout to influence decisions in the council WHY THE INTEREST * With the polar ice melting, the Council wants to exploit the region's resources and potential—shipping, fishing, oil, gas and mineral extraction, tourism—and that requires countries with the right expertise and deep pockets to pitch in (read China). * Melting ice has meant that shipping routes are staying open for longer periods in summer than before. Shipping companies can cut sailing time between Asia and Europe by almost one-third if they take the Arctic route, helping them reduce fuel costs THE COLD NORTH The Arctic is the polar region north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33'N) and consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost. Unlike the Antarctic, the Arctic is home to many diverse native communities. But the Arctic also has sizeable natural resources and it's this that interests countries far away from the Arctic ... contd. ALSO READ Rajnath plays Churchill: 'toil for our finest hour' Airlines can't charge extra for more than 12 seats: Govt Cracks and chaos in saffron camp: BJP has its hands full Not enough written about our military engagements: N N Vohra Please read our terms of use before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s). via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHPGpMLaw678YE1A6JvTJLUXF2F-A&url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-slice-of-the-arctic/1126778/

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