Why in News?

• India has been re-elected as an observer to the Arctic

Arctic council:

• The Arctic Council was established in 1989. It is an initiative of the Government of Finland where spokespersons from the 8 Arctic Countries met in Finland, to discuss cooperative strategy to safeguard the Arctic
• The Arctic Council is formed of circumpolar countries of Russia, United States, Canada, Norway, Demark, Sweden, Iceland and
• The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental body set up in 1996 by the Ottawa declaration to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States together with the indigenous communities and other Arctic
• Through this collaboration, the Arctic Council created with the signing of the Ottawa Declaration on 19 September 1996 in Canada. India has approved the observer status at the Kiruna Ministerial Meeting in
• The major focus areas of the Arctic Council are
  • The Environment and climate change
  • Bio-diversity
  • Oceans
  • The indigenous Arctic peoples

Observer Status:

• India along with China, South Korea, Singapore, Italy and Japan has Observer status at the Council.
• India was given observer status through Kiruna
• Observers are not allowed to take part in the active meetings. They usually participate in side
• Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to Non-governmental organizations, Non- littoral states as well as to Intergovernmental and Inter-Parliamentary