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India is sending its first winter trip to the Arctic to perform atmospheric studies during the northern nights, research auroral changes, and track sea ice variations.
Kiren Rijiju, India’s Minister of Earth Sciences, launched the mission on Monday in New Delhi. The government has sent summer expeditions to the icy region for the previous 16 years, but the first winter voyage carries “immense significance” as India “navigates the Arctic’s critical influence on global climate, sea levels, and biodiversity for the first time,” according to the minister.
A team of four scientists will be sent to the Himadri research station in Svalbard, Norway, to conduct year-round observations. According to India Today, the expedition’s goal is to better understand the complicated relationships between the Arctic climate and the Indian monsoon system, as well as to contribute to global warming studies.
The new expeditions, according to Thamban Meloth, head of India’s National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), will cater to “new scientific projects in atmospheric and space sciences.”
Meloth estimated that “wintering” in the Himadri would cost the government an extra $120,000. In an interview with The Indian Express, the official also claimed that India has launched new initiatives in Canada’s Arctic region and plans to conduct research there.
The new expedition is consistent with India’s Arctic Policy, which was announced in 2022 and focuses on strengthening the country’s cooperation with other countries in the resource-rich region. Science and research, climate and environmental protection, economic and human development, transport and connectivity, governance and international collaboration, and national capacity building are the policy’s cornerstones.
The success of India’s winter mission is intended to pave the way for ongoing presence and research in the Arctic, replicating India’s success in the Antarctic, where it operates two research stations named Maitri and Bharati.
Experts believe that India’s heightened focus on the Arctic will not only elevate New Delhi’s standing in the Arctic Council and other regional scientific organisations, but will also offer up new avenues for collaboration with crucial partners.