{"id":31621,"date":"2025-04-01T12:07:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T06:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=31621"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T07:56:07","slug":"arctic-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/arctic-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic Council"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Arctic Council Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>The Arctic region has become a global flashpoint due to rising geopolitical tensions, climate change, and resource competition.<\/p>\n<h2>About the Arctic Council<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Arctic is governed by the<\/strong><i><strong>Arctic Council<\/strong><\/i>, an intergovernmental body formed in <strong>1996 through the Ottawa Declaration.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Member States (8):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.<\/li>\n<li>These countries <strong>control land territories <\/strong>and have <strong>rights over resources <\/strong>within their <strong>Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Permanent participants: Six Indigenous groups<\/strong> representing Arctic inhabitants.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Observers (Including India):<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Thirteen countries<\/strong> (e.g., India, China, Japan, UK, France).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Thirteen intergovernmental organisations.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Twelve non-governmental organisations.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>All decisions require the consensus of the eight Arctic States and consultation with permanent participants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Northeast Passage<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Northeast Passage<\/strong> (also called the <strong>Northern Sea Route<\/strong>) runs <strong>along Russia\u2019s Arctic coastline<\/strong>, connecting <strong>Europe and Asia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Potential Advantages:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Shortens shipping distances<\/strong> between <strong>China and Europe<\/strong> by <strong>up to 8,000 km<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduces dependency<\/strong> on the <strong>Suez Canal<\/strong>, which faces security risks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Economic boost<\/strong> for Russia, as it controls access to the route.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why is the Arctic Gaining Strategic Importance?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Natural resources: <\/strong>The Arctic holds <strong>13% of the world\u2019s undiscovered oil<\/strong> and <strong>30% of untapped natural gas.<\/strong> Rich in <strong>rare earth elements, phosphates, and copper.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>New trade routes: <\/strong>The <strong>Northeast Passage (Russia)<\/strong> and the <strong>Northwest Passage (Canada)<\/strong> are emerging as alternatives to the <strong>Suez Canal, reducing travel distances by thousands of kilometers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Geopolitical interests: <\/strong>Russia, the US, and China are <strong>increasing military activities<\/strong> in the region, leading to <strong>rivalry and potential conflicts.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Climate change impact: <\/strong>Ice melting is <strong>opening previously inaccessible areas for exploration and trade.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lack of Legal Safeguards: <\/strong>Unlike Antarctica, which is <strong>protected by international treaties<\/strong>, the Arctic is primarily governed by <strong>UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea).<\/strong> This allows <strong>territorial claims and military presence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Arctic Council FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1: <\/strong>What is the Arctic Council?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that promotes cooperation among Arctic states and indigenous communities on environmental protection and sustainable development.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2: <\/strong>Who are the members of the Arctic Council?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> The Arctic Council consists of eight member countries: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3:<\/strong> Does India have any role in the Arctic Council?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> Yes, India is an observer state in the Arctic Council and has been actively involved in Arctic research through its Himadri research station in Svalbard, Norway.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4: <\/strong>What are the key working groups of the Arctic Council?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> The Council has several working groups focusing on climate change, biodiversity conservation, emergency prevention, and sustainable development in the Arctic region.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/international\/why-are-tensions-high-in-the-arctic-explained\/article69396260.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum that promotes cooperation among Arctic states and indigenous communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}