Abstract
Arctic, home to almost four million people is warming three times faster than the global average, resulting in receding ice cover, increasing accessibility to rich deposits of Hydrocarbons, minerals and progressively navigable New Arctic Sea Lanes of Communication. Climate change, transforming geopolitical security environment and technological advancements in the extraction of resources from extremely cold areas, has turned this Zone of Peace into an area of great power contest and geopolitical interest. Russia, with over half of Arctic coast line has been upgrading its civilian and military infrastructure in the Arctic and in response, the US and its NATO allies have also stepped up their regional Military activities and exercises. Not only for circumpolar countries, but for resource-hungry countries like China, India, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, Arctic has great significance. As an emerging power, India’s interest in the Arctic are driven by its economic, strategic, scientific and diplomatic engagements. In the current geopolitical milieu, Russian Arctic in particular, could provide India with long term investment opportunities, ameliorate India’s deficiency of rare earth minerals, address its energy needs and provide Russia and the World an alternative to China.
