Antarctic Parliament hosted by India. Here’s everything you need to know

India will host the 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM 46) in Kochi from May 20 to 30. The meeting is also known as the Antarctic Parliament. The meeting is being organized by the National Polar and Marine Research Centre (Goa) through the Department of Earth Sciences. A total of 56 Antarctic Treaty member countries will attend the meeting. This is not the first time that India is hosting the ATCM meeting. The country last hosted the meeting in 2007 in New Delhi.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (Antarctic Treaty)

The Antarctic Treaty was signed during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty was originally signed by twelve countries. The treaty was signed on December 1, 1959. However, the treaty did not enter into force until 1961. The original signatories were Australia, Chile, Japan, Norway, the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, New Zealand, France, Belgium and Argentina.

In 1983, 56 more countries joined the treaty. India was one of them.

Important features of the Antarctic Treaty

Antarctica is designated as a “no man’s land.” This land is considered to be outside the realm of international geopolitical competition. Here are a few important features that the treaty revolves around:

  • The disposal of radioactive waste and nuclear testing in Antarctica are prohibited.
  • All States Parties to the Antarctic Treaty have the freedom to conduct scientific research. All States Parties should share their scientific programmes and provide support as needed.
  • No defence or militarisation of Antarctica is permitted. One of the special features of the treaty is that Antarctica can only be used for peaceful purposes.

Agenda

The purpose of ATCM is to foster global dialogue on governance, tourism, science, law, and other issues of importance to Antarctica.

India is set to encourage peaceful governance of Antarctica at the conference. The country will discuss geopolitical disputes taking place in other parts of the world and stress that such tensions should not hinder the protection of Antarctica’s resources and Antarctica itself.

India will also reportedly set up a new working group specifically responsible for regulating Antarctic tourism, which will also be joined by Norway, the Netherlands and several other European countries.

India will also put forward the agenda of building Maitri-2 to all member states attending the Cochin Conference.