India carves an anchor at North Pole

India commissioned its permanent research base at the North Pole which will enable scientists to carry out studies on a range of subjects, including climate change in one of the cleanest environments on earth.

The research station -Himadri, on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. Ny-Alesund is the northernmost international research station situated only 1,200km from the North Pole.

The research station was set up following expeditions by Indian scientists to Ny-Alesund in the last 11 months.

The research base in the North Pole comes three decades after India set up a permanent station Dakshin Gangothri in Antarctica.

Initially, Himadri will be manned by Indian scientists on a project- to -project basis and later on converted into a round-the -year station as is the case in Antarctica.

India has access to Svalbard because of a treaty with Norway, which has sovereign rights over the area.

India became the 11th country in the world to have a research station in Ny-Alesund.