India looks towards the Arctic
The Indian Minister of Science and Technology was last week in Spitsbergen where he officially opened his country’s new polar research station.
Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Shri Kapil Sibal inaugurated the Indian research base named “Himadri”. The based is equipped with state of the art facilities and will be carrying out round the year scientific research in contemporary fields of Arctic Science with special emphasis on climate change, a press release from the Indian ministry informs.
With its new research station, India becomes the 12th country with permanent research presence in the far northern archipelago. From before, other distant countries like China, South-Korea and Japan have research stations in Spitsbergen, NRK reports.
The Indian station is located in the village of Ny-Ålesund.
During the Indian visit, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Indian National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research and the Norwegian Polar Institute, the website of the Norwegian institute informs.
