Charting a course for India’s Arctic engagement

India’s Arctic Policy can lead to shipbuilding cooperation with Russia but curiously ignores private space companies

India published its finalised Arctic Policy document on March 17. The document casts a wide net and explains India’s priorities, objectives and course of action for the Arctic in impressive clarity. A thorough examination reveals that the policy has benefited from the Government of India publishing a draft and inviting comments in January 2021. A clear imprint of similar publications from around the globe, most recently by the European Union (EU) is also visible. 

India should explore the prospects of building, smaller custom heavy icebreakers based on the template of the “Arktika” Project 22220 icebreaker ships with the USC. (AFP)

In objective terms, the policy has almost all the elements of a good strategic publication, with largely no unaddressed areas of relevance to India’s national interest in the Arctic region except when it comes to encouraging private space sector companies. As the policy lays out, India’s interest in the Arctic is primarily scientific and meteorological, pursuits, which have direct implications for India’s development goals, economy, agriculture and food security.

Further, India takes strategic polar problems like melting permafrost being a cryospheric-biosecurity concern, the need for hydrography and the production of navigation aids, the provision of connectivity and space-based infrastructure coverage quite seriously. India also has plans to seek international cooperation, especially with near-Arctic states. This may include the United States (US) for Earth Observation capabilities enabled by a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, and most likely Russia for developing polar ice-class research vessels able to transverse the frozen swathes in the North.

The war in Ukraine and international cooperation in the Arctic

The publication of the strategy also can’t be ignored in the current climate of international politics, with the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. While there is no direct confrontation between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces, the unprecedented sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia by the collective West has projected a dire picture for the Russian economy. 

The fallout also concerns cooperation in diplomatic spheres elsewhere, like the Arctic Council, where members Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the US, suspended their participation citing Russia’s recent actions. This, hopefully temporary fracture in the Arctic Council, may become an impetus for India to focus on its bilateral ties with these near-Arctic states. At least in the short term, India may pursue engagement beyond the observer status it enjoys since 2013 at the Arctic Council.

The growing pressure on India to align more closely with the G7 which led by the US has inflicted sanctions on Russia, has yet not swayed India, and it continues to cooperate with Russia. It is a matter of great disappointment for India’s Arctic prospects that a Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) wasn’t signed at the December 2021 India-Russia 2+2 summit. RELOS would have been instrumental to India’s access to Russian maritime logistics in the Arctic. It can only be hoped that with the altered geopolitical context due to the Ukraine conflict, Russia and India will no longer delay in signing this agreement.

Russian State companies are India’s best bet for polar research vessels

In its Arctic policy, India has reiterated the need for constructing ice-class polar research vessels with International cooperation. The major challenge until now has been the funding and lack of shipyard capability in India to construct ice-breakers or even less capable ice-class ships which can transverse the polar seas. Ideally, India should exploit its long history of shipbuilding cooperation with Russian shipyards under the Russian state conglomerate United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). India should explore the prospects of building, smaller custom heavy icebreakers based on the template of the “Arktika” Project 22220 icebreaker ships with the USC.

Cooperation with Russia and its Rosatomflot state company seems like the best bet to overcome these challenges. Atomflot a subsidiary of the Russian State-owned nuclear energy company, Rosatom, is in charge of not only Russia’s nuclear-powered heavy icebreaker ships but also the development, infrastructure and logistics of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). India has not only shown interest in the NSR, but also intends to contribute to its development. India’s ties to Rosatom are already quite strong with several Indian civil nuclear power plants being constructed by them, leveraging this relationship will doubtless gain India concessions and favourable terms in other services and contracts too.

Atomflot operates the largest, most capable ice-breaking ships with virtually unlimited range, capable of traversing the frozen Arctic seas throughout the year, and offers convoy services.

India can look to not only contract Russia’s unique nuclear-powered cargo ship “Sevmorput” to transport its scientific equipment and personnel but more importantly be a part of convoys led by Arktika class icebreakers clearing the way for other Indian contracted, crewed or owned ships. It is no secret that funding for large equipment purchases is not a quick process for the Indian establishment to clear, but it is presumably easier to contract case-by-case, one time services for expeditions in the Arctic. Atomflot will likely be onboard to negotiate with several stakeholders like India’s Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the ministry of defence, the Navy and Coast Guard.

What about private space companies?

While the policy pays token attention to involving Indian private companies in its Arctic endeavours, the message by and large in the policy is decidedly skewed towards State to State and international fora cooperation. In the age of private NewSpace companies leading the charge for the global space economy, it is in bad taste that an entire section about “space technology” is plastered by the Indian government-controlled space agency ISRO’s logo. 

Further, there is barely any mention of opportunities India’s private space companies may have towards contributing to all the listed projects, which are predominantly ISRO initiatives. With such curious disregard for explicitly acknowledging the potential role India’s nascent private space sector can play, it is unlikely India can ever see its dreams of its own companies rising to the level of SpaceX in the global private space economy.

Although a very thorough and impressive document, the policy still has some room for improvement to accommodate the Indian private space sector in any future revisions.

Aditya Pareek and Ruturaj Gowaikar are research analysts, Takshashila Institution

The views expressed are personal