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

India hosts the 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, abbreviated as the ATCM 46 in Kochi from May 20-30. The Meeting is also known as the Antarctic Parliament. The meeting has been organized by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, via the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The meeting will be attended by a total of 56 member nations of the Antarctic Treaty. It is not the first time that India is hosting the ATCM meeting. The last time the country hosted the meeting was in the year 2007 in New Delhi.

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

Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (The Antarctic treaty)

It was at the time of the Cold War when the Antarctic Treaty was signed. The Antarctic Treaty had twelve nations as the original signatories. The treaty was signed on the 1st of December in the year 1959. However, it was in the 1961 that the treaty came into force. The original signatories were Australia, Chile, Japan, Norway, the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, New Zealand, France, Belgium, and Argentina.

It was in the year 1983 when 56 other nations joined the treaty. One of these 56 nations was India.

Important Features of the Antarctic Treaty

Antarctica was designated as "no man's land". The place was seen as a land that falls beyond the ambit of international geopolitical competition. Here are a few important features that the treaty centered around:

• Disposal of radioactive waste items and nuclear testing shall be prohibited in Antarctica.
• All the signatories of the Antarctic Treaty will enjoy the freedom to conduct scientific investigations. All the signatories should be sharing their plans for the scientific programs and offer the needed support.
• There isn't any fortification or militarization allowed in Antarctica. One of the features of the treaty is that Antarctica should be made to use only for peaceful purposes.

The Agenda

The purpose of the ATCM is to foster global dialogue on issues like governance, tourism, science, law, along with other essential issues of Antarctica.

India is all set to encourage peaceful governance in Antarctica at the conference. The country will eb addressing the geopolitical tiffs occurring in other parts of the world and the fact that such tensions shouldn't hamper the protection of the resources of Antarctica and the continent itself.

It is also been said that a new working group for the purpose of regulating the tourism on Antarctica will also be introduced by India. Norway, the Netherlands, and a few other European nations will be a part of the working group. 

India will also put forward its agenda to construct the Maitri II before all the members of the meeting in Kochi.