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The Ministry of Earth Sciences held the 8th Meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Ocean and Polar Science and Technology (OPST) at Goa from 12 to 14 August 2026, hosted by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) during India's BRICS Presidency.
Delegations from Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates agreed on collaborative work in coastal resilience, a joint polar ocean biodiversity study, milestones for the 5th International Polar Year and capacity building for young researchers.
India will use its Presidency year to finalise the Working Group's roadmap and a short-term action plan; the meeting was chaired by NCPOR Director Dr Thamban Meloth and its concluding session was addressed virtually by MoES Secretary Dr T. Srinivasa Kumar Tummala.
India's nodal institution for polar, Southern Ocean and Arctic research; established on 25 May 1998 as the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) and later renamed. It operates India's Antarctic and Arctic stations and coordinates Indian Antarctic expeditions
Created on 29 January 2006, it covers atmospheric science, seismology, ocean science and polar research
MoES institute that develops India's deep-sea technology, including the Matsya-6000 crewed submersible for the Samudrayaan mission
MoES institute providing ocean information and advisory services, including tsunami and storm-surge early warning
The global framework for sustained ocean observations, created by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in March 1991 following the Second World Climate Conference; co-sponsored by WMO, UNEP and the International Science Council
Signed at Washington on 1 December 1959 by 12 original signatories, it reserves Antarctica for peaceful, scientific use and demilitarises the continent. India acceded on 19 August 1983 and secured Consultative Party status, which carries voting rights at Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, on 12 September 1983.
India's first domestic law on Antarctica. It gives effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, regulates Indian expeditions and activities, and protects the Antarctic environment.
Constituted by the Central Government under the Indian Antarctic Act, 2022 and chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences; it grants permits and oversees compliance for Indian activity in Antarctica.
Designates Antarctica as a natural reserve devoted to peace and science and bars mineral resource activity other than scientific research; one of the instruments the Indian Antarctic Act domesticates.
India runs research stations at both poles. Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1983, was India's first Antarctic base; it was submerged in ice and decommissioned in 1990. Maitri (1989) and Bharati are India's currently operating Antarctic stations, and Maitri-II is being built to replace the ageing Maitri, targeted for completion by January 2029 with capacity for about 90 personnel. In the Arctic, India's station Himadri was inaugurated on 1 July 2008 at Ny-Alesund on Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago (Norway), making India the 11th country with a permanent research base there. India also deployed IndARC, its first multi-sensor moored observatory in the Arctic, in the Kongsfjorden fjord on 23 July 2014. All of these are operated by NCPOR from Goa.
Explore and sustainably use deep-ocean resources and develop deep-sea technologies
Key: Approved by the Union Cabinet in June 2021 with an outlay of Rs 4,077 crore over five years; implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences
Carry three humans to a depth of 6,000 metres in an indigenous crewed submersible
Key: Matsya-6000 is being developed by NIOT Chennai under the Deep Ocean Mission; the full-depth crewed dive is targeted around 2027 after phased trials
Sustain a year-round Indian scientific presence in Antarctica
Key: Coordinated by NCPOR; India has run annual Antarctic expeditions since 1981-82 and has held Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party status since 1983
Coordinate joint research among BRICS members across thematic working groups, of which Ocean and Polar Science and Technology is one
Key: In India, MoES runs the OPST Working Group in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology
A coordinated global burst of polar fieldwork, modelling, education and outreach
Key: Co-led by the International Science Council, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the WMO; the Goa meeting agreed to set BRICS milestones towards it
GOOS is the internationally coordinated system that keeps the ocean under permanent measurement through floats, moorings, ships, gliders and satellites feeding a common data stream. It was created by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO in March 1991, in response to the Second World Climate Conference of 1990, and is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization, UNEP and the International Science Council. Its outputs underpin three things: descriptions of the ocean's present state, forecasts of future sea conditions, and the ocean inputs that climate models need. Strengthening BRICS contributions to GOOS was one of the Goa meeting's stated priorities, because reliable ocean information services are what coastal early-warning systems are built on.
Simple Analogy: GOOS is to the ocean what a national network of weather stations is to the atmosphere: no single country can watch it all, so everyone's instruments report into one shared record.
The Treaty (1959), CCAMLR and the Madrid Protocol together form the Antarctic Treaty System, and the Indian Antarctic Act, 2022 is India's way of domesticating all three, a favourite linkage for statement-based questions.
Deep Ocean Mission, Samudrayaan and coastal resilience work all sit under India's Blue Economy agenda, which pairs resource use with coastal protection.
India is an Observer at the Arctic Council and runs Himadri at Ny-Alesund; polar science is therefore both a research and a diplomatic instrument.
The BRICS Presidency runs through 2026, so working-group meetings like this one across ministries are the substantive layer beneath the summit; expect several similar releases through the year.
GS Paper 2 > International Relations > Groupings and Agreements Involving India; GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology
General Awareness > Static GK > Research Institutions and International Organisations
General Awareness > Current Affairs > International Groupings
Polar research, the Antarctic Treaty System and Deep Ocean Mission recur every year or two in UPSC Prelims; BRICS expansion has been asked repeatedly since 2024.
An Antarctic Treaty party that conducts substantial scientific research in Antarctica and consequently holds voting rights at Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings; India obtained this status on 12 September 1983.
The BRICS Working Group on Ocean and Polar Science and Technology, run in India by MoES with DST under the BRICS STI framework.
The 5th International Polar Year, planned for 2032-33, co-led by ISC, SCAR, IASC and WMO.
Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, one of the instruments given effect by the Indian Antarctic Act, 2022.