New Delhi: India is set to play a pivotal role in facilitating the first-ever focused discussions on regulating tourism in Antarctica at the ongoing 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and 26th Meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) in Kerala’s Kochi, an official statement said on Tuesday.
The annual high-level global meetings, being held from May 20-30 in Kochi, have been organised by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat.
The meetings are based on the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty — a multilateral agreement of 56 Contracting Parties signed in 1959 — of which India has been a part since 1983.
While discussions around regulating tourism have been ongoing in ATCMs since 1966, a dedicated working group for regulating tourism in Antarctica has been formulated for the first time at the 46th ATCM, hosted by India, said…
