India Gets Observer Status in Arctic Council - Wednesday May 15,2013

India’s bid for Observer Status in the Arctic Council was successful on Wednesday May 15,2013 along with that of 5 other countries — China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore — at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting at City Hall in Kiruna

Note
Observer status is open to non-Arctic states approved by the Council at the Ministerial Meetings that occur once every two years. As of May 2013,12 non-Arctic states have Permanent Observer status.They are -

• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• South Korea
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Singapore
• Spain and
• UK