The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

Why India Needs a Comprehensive Polar Strategy

The Arctic and Antarctic are reshaping both the global climate and the geopolitical chessboard. Yet India remains absent from the tables where polar futures are decided. 

A helicopter carries the Indian flag while passing over India’s Maitri research station in Antarctica, Feb. 2, 2005.

For generations, India’s strategic policies have been anchored by two geographical features: the Himalayas guarding its northern boundaries and the Indian Ocean protecting its maritime boundaries. However, amid renewed scientific and strategic attention as well as great power competitions, other frontiers –  the Arctic Sea and the Antarctic – are quietly redefining the country’s security, economic, and diplomatic landscape.

Against this background, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs’ report on “India’s Role and Presence in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions” is more than a routine parliamentary exercise. The committee deemed India’s current approach to the polar region inadequate. It recommended appointing a polar ambassador and creating a dedicated Polar Affairs Desk within the Ministry of External Affairs to strengthen capability and pursue a more proactive diplomatic role in both poles.

While the recommendation deserves support, appointing a dedicated ambassador should be seen only as a beginning for India’s polar presence. What New Delhi requires is a comprehensive polar strategy that integrates scientific research with diplomacy, maritime interests, climate security, economic needs, and long-term strategic planning.

India is not a newcomer to the polar regions. It launched the Indian Antarctic Program in 1981 and established a sustained scientific presence through research stations like Dakshin Gangotri (now decommissioned), Maitri, Bharti, and Maitri II (upcoming). In the Arctic, India’s engagement evolved through the establishment of the Himadri research station in Svalbard (2008), then observer status in the Arctic Council (2012), and finally the adoption of India’s Arctic policy in 2022.

While these initiatives have earned India considerable scientific credibility, they also exposed a strategic paradox. India expanded its scientific footprint in the polar regions, but its diplomatic and institutional architecture remains limited. The Arctic states as well as several Arctic Council observer states have polar ambassadors and dedicated institutional mechanisms to coordinate and cooperate in polar diplomacy, scientific research, and strategic planning, something that India clearly lacks.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee rightly identified this institutional gap. Its recommendation clearly indicates that the polar world can no longer be treated only as a niche scientific domain and requires strategic intervention to protect and promote Indian foreign policy interests.

The strongest argument for a comprehensive polar strategy lies not only in distant geopolitics but also in India’s own national interest. The first and foremost reason to pay attention to the poles is climate security. As per reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, causing alterations in atmospheric circulation, ocean systems, and weather patterns across the Northern hemisphere. 

Recent research from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology showed that the declining Arctic sea ice is influencing Indian monsoons by altering Rossby waves and the Asian jet stream. The impact of this extends beyond climatology and impacts Indian agriculture, food security, water management, and disaster preparedness. Further, the cryosphere – i.e. the Arctic, the Antarctic and the Himalayan regions – forms an interconnected climate system. Accelerated melting of ice, whether of Himalayan glaciers or at the poles, contributes to sea level rise, threatening around 11,000 kilometers of India’s coastline and island territories.

The second reason India should care about the poles is maritime connectivity. More than 90 percent of India’s merchandise trade by volume is transported by sea. With a changing climate, the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic is becoming more navigable, and that can influence global shipping economics, logistics, and supply chains. India, whose maritime vision is reflected through initiatives like SAGAR and transit corridors like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), can no longer view developments in the Arctic in isolation.

The third dimension to this lies in geoeconomics. The polar region holds significant reserves of hydrocarbons, fisheries, and critical minerals essential for renewable energy technology and other strategic industries. International resource and environmental safeguards will continue to regulate the utilization of polar resources. A country like India, in pursuit of resilient supply chains, self-reliance, and energy security, can’t afford to remain absent from these discussions, and hence requires a comprehensive polar strategy.

If climate change provides the environmental rationale for polar engagement, and economics adds value to the proposition, geopolitics provides the strategic imperative. 

In recent years, the Arctic has evolved from a scientific frontier to a new arena of strategic competition. Russia transformed the Northern Sea Route into a key economic corridor and is strengthening its military base across the region, whereas NATO has renewed its focus on the High North following recent European security........

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