New Delhi: In a first ever conference on Asia in the Arctic organised at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), issues pertaining to Law, Governance and Resources, navigation and Indigenous rights were discussed. This comes at a time when 5 Asian countries have recently got Permanent Observer status in the Arctic Council, including China, India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
The two day conference was organised by IDSA from September 23-24, 2013, in close co-operation with the three Norwegian research institutions, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) and Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
The conference, a part of the three-year AsiArctic project, aims at contributing relevant knowledge on the Asian countries interest in the Arctic through an integrated research effort, combining expertise on international relations, Asia country expertise, energy strategies, shipping interests, security policy, management of marine living resources, environmental challenges in the High North and to assess how the emergence of Asian countries as key global players will impact on governance structures and the balance of power in the Arctic.
Asia’s Interest in the Arctic Discussed at IDSA