US to augment military deployments in Arctic to counter Russia and Chin

Washington: Russia, followed by China, has dramatically increased its activities in the Arctic region. The United States has announced that military deployment and investment in this region will be increased to a large extent to counter them. A new ‘National Strategy for the Arctic Region’ was released by the White House on Friday. It outlines the strategy to be implemented by the United States in the Arctic region from 2022 to 2032. Last month, the US Department of Defence warned that the Arctic is a very peaceful region and that the United States is ready to do anything to maintain peace there.

The Arctic region of the Northern Hemisphere is claimed by the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, along with Russia. Of this, Russia controls 5 million square kilometres of the Arctic. From the Barents Sea to the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea and the Bering Gulf are dominated by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the Arctic region a strategic priority in his national security policy. Russia is extracting large amounts of fuel and gas from the Arctic region. President Putin has underlined that the Arctic is significant politically, militarily, economically, environmentally, technologically and in terms of mineral resources.

Following Russia, China has also turned its attention to this region. Over the past few years, China has increased its intervention in the region by adopting a ‘Near Arctic’ policy. Visits of Chinese naval and merchant ships have advanced to the Arctic and China has announced a massive investment in the mineral resources of this region. Against the background of these increased Russian and Chinese activities, the United States has started taking initiatives for the Arctic region and the new policy is considered part of it.

In the ‘National Strategy for the Arctic Region’, indications have been given to increase cooperation with other countries in the Arctic. The United States has said that the four principles of security, environmental protection, economic development and international cooperation will be the foundation of the new policy. The new policy says that a large investment will be made in this area, and the scope of military exercises with other countries will increase for this purpose. Currently, the United States has defence bases in Alaska and Greenland and more than 22 thousand soldiers are stationed there.