Polar Silk Road – Burning Issues/Current Affairs

Table of Contents

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THE ARCTIC MELTING FASTER THAN THE ANTARCTIC?

•The Arctic is melting much faster than expected, and could even be ice-free in summer by the late 2030s, a report from the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program
• Previous studies had forecast an ice-free North Pole in summer by mid-century.
• Air temperatures are climbing, and so are water temperatures. This makes the ice melt faster

OPPORTUNITY

• The depletion of ice in the Arctic Circle, largely believed by scientists to be a consequence of climate change, has prompted a race to develop the region, with members of the Arctic Council staking competing claims for large portions of the area.
• However, China is a non-Arctic Circle state. Instead, it enjoys observer status in the Arctic Council, whose core members include Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Russia and
the US.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!

• China recently outlined its ambitions to extend President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative to the Arctic by developing shipping lanes opened up by global warming.
• Releasing its first official Arctic policy white paper, China said it would encourage enterprises to build infrastructure and conduct commercial trial voyages, paving the way for Arctic
shipping routes that would form a “Polar Silk Road”.

CHINA’S OBJECTIVES

• China is expanding its “One Belt, One Road” initiative to satisfy a long-sought geopolitical objective: A claim to the Arctic.
•Increase trade with Europe and Russia
•Russia’s Natural Gas for China’s energy needs
NOTES
• The Washington-based Arctic Institute, a polar security think tank, said that while China’s interest in the Arctic was concerned with “shipping shortcuts” and “investment opportunities,” it was unlikely to extend to defense interests.
• It is “doubtful at this stage that the Arctic figures heavily into the country’s plans for military or naval expansion, but China, like other countries, is probably keeping an eye on how the
world’s military powers react to the retreat of Arctic sea ice,” said the Arctic Institute.

PUTIN’S VIEWS

• China’s newly announced “Polar Silk Road” evokes the memory of President Vladimir Putin’s remark about the possibility to link the Beijing-led One Belt One Road project with Russia’s Northern Sea Route, which is likely to become one of major trade routes connecting Asia
and Europe

ARCTIC COUNCIL: THE BACKGROUND

• The Ottawa Declaration named eight members of the Arctic Council: Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the United States, Sweden and Finland.
• The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum which addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and people living in the Arctic region.