Iceland, Emerging Frontier of Innovation: Cutting edge Multidisciplinary Research, Tourist Destination and Northern Sea Route—‘China’s Arctic Silk Road’

Last week from October 5th to October 11th 2026 I had an amazing journey and a life time opportunity visiting Iceland. I was invited by the University of Iceland, Arctic Council and more importantly courtesy Professor Jon Geir Petursson, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Environment and Natural Resources Graduate Program, Reykjavik. Since in the previous century I had done my Masters in Geography and have remained zealous about political geography, so I was aware of Iceland’s strategic significance and why Greenland ‘grab’ was in headlines in recent months but my family was skeptical and thought it was some remote wilderness in the ice capped polar region and I being a senior citizen, it would be an arduous journey for me. However, it was a incredibly smooth journey, from Lahore to Doha about 3 hours, from Doha to Oslo 6 and half hours and from Oslo to Reykjavik another less than 3 hours and by dinner time on the same day, I was in Reykjavik. And there was Ahmed to receive me; such gestures in life make you passionate and proud of your students. I cannot thank him and his wife enough for personal attention, company, care and hospitality. The University of Iceland was a generous host for my entire stay and travel an unusual honour and for me it’s hard to find words of gratitude for Professor Petursson, the University and its Rector. Travel back was equally smooth from Reykjavik to Helsinki, 3 and half hours and from there to Doha 6 and half hours and back to Lahore. Finn Air offered free, only water, during the three and half hour flight but I found this phrase on the paper cup inspiring, testy and oozing positivity; “We Finns always believe that better days are ahead.”

Iceland is serene, scenic, clean and the volcanic eruptions are a common occurrence and signs of dark ash and lava laden plateau like charred humps are visible along with snow clad mountains The country has a population of about 400,000 and I was told almost 50% live in and around the capital city Reykjavik. In the past five years the number of Pakistanis has risen from a few hundred to an estimated 3,000 to date and there is a Pakistani restaurant in the heart of downtown (more later on this). I enjoyed the heavenly fresh and delicious Icelandic Cod, Salman, Tuna and organic Icelandic lamb dishes. Temperatures’ during the week were between 5 to 7 Centigrade and had two sunny days, which was nice. It was the end of tourist season, so plenty of Chinese, Japanese and Korean, plus American and European visitors were visible, downtown is relatively small, lively and throbbing. On a nice day, the cultural heritage sites, museums and eateries are at a walkable distance. Reykjavik is one of the most expensive cities in the world and low and behold; Iceland has American bases but does not have any McDonalds!!

Arctic Assembly sessions were divided into two parts, the Plenary Sessions, in which the key statesmen from across the world , the presidents. prime ministers, foreign ministers/ cabinet ministers, Commanders of various forces delivered policy speeches followed by a brief Q/A session. In the second part, researchers, policy analysts, academics, business leaders and senior government officials shared their perspectives. Participating in the Arctic Assembly sessions has been an incredible experience in learning and witnessing presentations on cutting edge research topics, data driven and futuristic, in a multidisciplinary and global context—ranging from Arctic Ice melt to Third Pole glaciers, dynamics of geopolitics to bio-diversity, preserving indigenous communities, cultures, protecting and adapting livelihoods to sustainable development.

I was in Iceland as I mentioned above; I have the honour to be on the doctoral supervisory committee of Ahmed Nawaz, a brilliant doctoral student at the University of Iceland, who did his Executive Masters at the Centre for Public Policy & Governance, FCCU and another one at the University of Iceland. Ahmed has a innovative research design, theoretically rigorous, laden with data driven methodology on rarely studied Protected Areas(PA) of Northern Areas of Pakistan, Professor Petursson being the principal supervisor . The doctoral committee comprising of Professor Petursson, me and Professor Thomas Barry, Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Akureyri, Iceland. For over a year the committee has been meeting on Zoom, it met for the first time in person on October 6, 2026 at the University Iceland to ‘review research design and publications’ of the doctoral fellow. The committee had in depth discussion on a set of research papers that the doctoral fellow is in the process of finalizing. The university of Iceland requires publication of three to four research papers in a reputable academic journal as part of dissertation completion process and for awarding the doctoral degree. In addition, the committee exchanged ideas and explored prospects of developing collaborative research projects and avenues of graduate students exchange programs with one or two universities in Pakistan. I want to record me appreciation that while reviewing Ahmed Nawaz’s research and having discussions with Professors Petursson and Barry on Zoom and now in person, has been a learning and professionally rewarding experience.

Ahead of the Arctic Circle Assembly, the University of the Arctic (UArctic) and the University of Iceland (HÍ) jointly hosted their annual pre-Assembly conference, Arctic Challenges: Navigating a Changing Arctic, on Wednesday, 7 October. The conference included a session presenting perspectives from Pakistan and exploring the interconnectedness of the world’s glacier regions. I was a invited by the Institute of International Affairs at the university to be the keynote speaker , I gave my keynote address on the broad theme of; The Interconnectedness of the global glacier regions: Perspectives from the HKH Karakoram glacier landscapes in N- Pakistan. Let me provide a summary of key points from my keynote address for sustainable development and governance in Gilgit-Baltistan:**

1. Northern Areas of Pakistan, renamed GB ,2009, historically functioned as a remote frontier because terrain, distance and weak transport links restricted political and economic integration. The KKH and subsequent roads, tunnels, bridges, telecommunications and CPEC infrastructure have altered isolation and strengthened state reach, markets and Pakistan–China connectivity. Technology has not obliterated geography; it has changed its effects, from physical isolation toward questions of connectivity, inter-dependence, resilience and governance.

2.Risk-based Mountain Governance: Earlier policy treated difficult terrain primarily as an engineering problem: build roads, bridges and tunnels to overcome physical barriers. Frequent earthquakes, landslides, glacial activity and extreme weather show that connectivity itself must now be protected. Mountain governance therefore needs to shift from conquering terrain to continuously managing environmental, climatic, infrastructural and human loss risk.

3. Climate Resilient Infrastructure: Connectivity creates economic benefits but also produces dependence on critical infrastructure. A road failure no longer affects only an isolated locality; it can disrupt tourism, trade, markets, public services and entire transport corridors. Climate change magnifies this vulnerability through glacier instability, floods, landslides and slope failure. The success of connectivity, makes resilience decisive. Climate-resilient infrastructure and monitoring should become pre-requits to development planning.

4. Sustainable Tourism: Tourism is diversifying livelihoods beyond agriculture, livestock and remittances and creating opportunities in hospitality, transport, guiding, handicrafts, retail and digital services. But uncontrolled tourism can create waste, water stress, unsafe construction, land-price inflation and environmental degradation. The real challenge is to create value rather than simply increase visitor numbers: retain benefits locally, involve communities, expand opportunities for youth and women, and protect the environmental assets on which tourism depends. Simultaneously, remain vigilant on managing any cultural misunderstandings.

5. Equitable Utilization of Mineral Resources: Mineral and gemstone resources already generate household income, but benefits are uneven and mining remains constrained by informality, weak safety standards, limited processing and poor value chains. Growing interest in critical minerals could increase GB’s strategic economic importance but also raises the danger of extractive development. The critical governance issue is local value capture: processing, employment, revenue distribution, environmental safeguards and community participation must accompany extraction.

6. Geo-political Complexities of Mountain regions: Pakistan, India conflict on Kargil and dispute on Siachen and India–China 1962 war and 2020 border clashes show that mountain geography does not prevent conflict. Instead, terrain shapes military operations, logistics, surveillance and border control while greatly increasing their cost. Infrastructure has a dual usage: roads, bridges, tunnels and communications support civilian development but also enhance military mobility and strategic access. Mountain governance therefore cannot separate development from geopolitics: connectivity, sovereignty, security and civilian resilience have to be managed together and that means strategic integration.

The session was moderated by Professor Jón Geir Pétursson, who highlighted the global significance of the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalaya (HKH) glacier systems, particularly in northern Pakistan, and their critical importance for water security, biodiversity, and local livelihoods. He also discussed the interconnected challenges of climate change, environmental conservation, natural resource governance, and sustainable development, drawing attention to ongoing Iceland-Pakistan research collaboration aimed at improving our understanding of these complex socio-ecological landscapes.

I was humbled and honored that session was attended by Professor Madam Silja Bara Omarsdottir, Rector University of Iceland and a leading Political Science, IR Scholar, who gave her concluding remarks and thanked the participants for a lively and engaging discussion.

\ During the Arctic Circle Assembly, we had another significant Pakistan-related session, it was held on Friday, 9 October, titled The Arctic and Hindu Kush Karakoram Himalaya: Glacier Landscape Governance, jointly organized by SIPEG, the University of Iceland, and the University of Akureyri. The session explored the shared challenges of glacier landscape governance in the Arctic and HKH regions, with discussions focusing on climate change, natural hazards, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods in northern Pakistan. Discussed the prospects of building a Third Pole-Arctic Circle Knowledge platform. It highlighted the importance of Iceland–Pakistan research cooperation, knowledge exchange, effective resource governance, community resilience, and sustainable mountain tourism as pathways towards climate adaptation and regional development. The session was moderated by Professor Jón Geir Pétursson and featured a distinguished panel comprising Mr. Hamza Farrukh, Chairperson, PCCA, Professor Shafqat, Professor Tom Barry, Mr. Ahmed Nawaz, and Mr. Leifur Örn Svavarsson, owner and mountain guide at Slóðir Ferðaskrifstofa, Iceland.

Meetings with Pakistan’s Minister of Climate Change and Environment Coordination & Chairperson PCCA:

Meeting Pakistan’s political leaders, ministers abroad in an international setting, I have always found heartwarming, entertaining and illuminating! It did come my way as Professor Jón Geir Pétursson on Wednesday, 7 October, hosted a six course dinner, at an upscale Reykjavik, Resturant FishMart, in honour of Dr. Musadik Malik, Minister for Climate Change and Environment Coordination and Mr. Hamza Farrukh, Chairperson, Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA). This provided an opportunity for a frank, candid, and constructive discussions on strengthening international research collaboration across the world’s cryospheric regions. Professor Tom Barry, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri; Me, and Mr. Ahmed Nawaz, Doctoral Fellow at the University of Iceland, participated in the discussions. Both the Minister and the Chairperson reiterated their strong interest in developing meaningful research partnerships and establishing interdisciplinary research clusters to address shared climate and environmental challenges. Mr. Malik was articulate, upfront, knowledgeable on environmental issues & showed vigor & commitment of purpose. Professor Barry suggested exploring existing collaborative frameworks, particularly those of UArctic and Nordic research cooperation, as potential avenues for building such partnerships. The exchange was professionally rewarding and highlighted opportunities for future academic and scientific cooperation between Pakistan, Iceland, and the wider Arctic research community. On 10th October at the Plenary Session, the Minister made a passionate, persuasive and effective speech on climatic vulnerabilities of Pakistan, both in the context of financial & human loss. He outlined his vision of Pakistan’s climate policy. For a virtual Green University, supported by the concepts of a Green Cloud and Green Fields, to encourage scientific collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and innovative climate solutions. On scientific data accessibility, he expressed his commitment to facilitating greater data-sharing and creating spaces for open dialogue and what he described as an “ecology of innovation”.

Let us all work together to ensure implementation of this vision.

Arctic Circle, Plenary Sessions:

H. E. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Chairman, Arctic Circle and President of Iceland (1996-2016), opened the Plenary Sessions by enthusiastically welcoming the guests and participants; he gave a brief overview of its history. The Arctic Circle was founded under his presidency in 2013 and is headquartered at Reykjavik, Iceland. The Arctic Circle ‘s website declares it a ‘non- profit and non-partisan’, whose mission is to ‘facilitate dialogue and build partnerships’ with the aim, “to strengthen the decision-making process by bringing together as many Arctic and international partners as possible under one “large open tent”. This was truly reflected and amply demonstrated in the plenary and other diverse, wide ranging, multidisciplinary panels and representatives/participants from across the world. Besides the emerging geo-political significance of the Arctic region; issues pertaining to climate change, Arctic ice and glaciers melt in the Hindu Kush, Himalaya, Karakoram region, sustaining ecology, bio-diversity, youth empowerment, preserving the rights and cultural heritage of indigenous people, enhancing the usage of technology and taking advantage of AI for safe-guarding all forms of life and promoting research and strengthening international partnerships were the focus of discussion and possible solutions and way forward.

Mr. Grimsson also acted as moderator for some of the key plenary sessions. He was a towering figure, and conducted plenary sessions with diplomatic finesse and prudence. There were a total of ten keynote speakers/dignitaries for the plenary session. I am reporting on a few, which I thought made some interesting remarks. The opening speech of the plenary session was given by the Honorable, Anita Anand, Foreign Minister of Canada. Her remarks were insightful and incisive. Recognizing the role and responsibilities of the great powers, she steered away from passing any critical remarks on the Trump administration. She articulated and advocated Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney’s formulation of ‘rupture’ in the world order and projected Canada as a Middle Power, although the title of her talk was, Canada and the Future of the Arctic; she was emphatic in calling for upholding international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, and working for peaceful co-existence. She proposed developing new multilateral alliances, strengthening Nordic 5 and Baltic 3 as part of Canada’s strategy as Arctic middle power. To convey Canadian tolerance for diversity, she spoke about her Indian ancestry and early childhood in Canada. In that spirit making the world a better place for the younger generations, thus, calling for investing in the knowledge and skills development of the youth and protecting the rights and culture of indigenous people. The other interesting speech was delivered by H.E. Mute H. Egede, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Business and Raw Materials, Greenland, the broad theme was ‘Nothing about Greenland Without Greenland’. He was young, showed exuberance and confidence in conveying that Greenland, which has population of only 56,000, would not be ‘spectator about its future’. The indigenous people of Greenland will preserve its cultural heritage and social life and shape its future. He viewed U.S, Denmark and Greenland Agreement as a positive development. An equally interesting speaker was, H.E, Beinir Johannesen, the prime minister, Faroe Islands,( I searched on the google map to figure out where this island was and found it between Denmark and Iceland , both Greenland and the Faroe Islands are under the Kingdom of Denmark), has population of 55,000 and first time PM, relatively young and inexperienced but showed cognizance about its new found identity and potential role in the changing geo-political order of the Arctic region. He also emphasized protecting the indigenous people and their culture.

I was intrigued and remain curious as I saw, Muhammet Kasim Gonullu, Deputy Minister of Industry Technology, Türkiye, as plenary session speaker Türkiye: A New Arctic Player? A member of the NATO, old RCD partner of Pakistan and new partner through recent Mecca Agreement; it reflects Türkiye’s geo-political dynamism, vision or reach!

Final Day, Summing up and Concluding Thought:

The Arctic Circle Assembly sessions were academically rich and engaging. In addition to showcasing state-of-the-art techniques in data collection and research, they were sharply focused on policy prescriptions.

The Assembly was held at Harpa—a name that, perhaps unconsciously, evoked in my mind Harappa, one of Pakistan’s important civilizational heritage sites. Harpa, however, turned out to be an architecturally unique and iconic building in Reykjavik: a Concert Hall and Conference Centre distinguished by its artistically designed, expansive glass windows. From inside, one could enjoy spectacular views of Reykjavik’s old harbor, Faxaflói Bay, and the North Atlantic Ocean. The building featured spacious conference rooms, dance floors, and halls for musical performances. Close by, one could also see or take ferries and cruise tours.

I was able to visit only a few places in the city. My hotel was in the heart of downtown Reykjavik, within walking distance of another landmark, Hallgrímskirkja, a Lutheran church named after a seventeenth-century Icelandic poet and clergyman. The walkways along the bay were also close by.

The spectacular beauty of Iceland lies in its natural environment, which the Icelandic people and state have preserved with remarkable care. The lagoons, hot-water geysers, and volcanoes are among its most attractive tourist destinations. Indeed, the organizers had arranged two excursions for Sunday: one to Hvammsvík Hot Springs and another for a glacier hike at Sólheimajökull. Unfortunately, I was travelling back and missed the opportunity to join them. Public transport is readily available for travelling outside the city, but most of my time was spent at Harpa, immersed in the Assembly’s proceedings.

The final day, October 10, was rainy and gloomy—not particularly conducive to outdoor activities. Fortunately, two of Ahmed’s colleagues, Asif, who hails from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and Munib, took me to the Perlan Interactive 4D Museum. It was a fascinating experience, with an approximately two-hour immersive presentation that transported visitors beneath volcanic eruptions, across glacial landscapes and snowy mountains, and into the Arctic Ocean. Although I had been unable to explore Iceland’s natural wonders outdoors, this interactive museum offered both an intellectually stimulating experience and a remarkable sense of being in touch with the realities of these extraordinary environments. It was, in many ways, a mind-boggling experience and a source of consolation for having missed the outdoor excursions.

Asif and Munib not only took time out of their schedules to accompany me to Perlan but also enthusiastically explained how its exhibits and interactive features worked. The revolving restaurant at the top of Perlan, enclosed beneath a glass dome and fully air-conditioned, was equally tantalizing. It offered panoramic, almost bird’s-eye views of Reykjavik and the North Atlantic Ocean. I remain deeply indebted to Asif for arranging this memorable experience.

I returned back to Lahore, with a paradoxical feeling and a compelling reflection: looking towards the coming decade: think 2035! designing governance frameworks capable of managing the risks arising from two concurrent disruptions, environmental disruption and geopolitical disruption, will be a defining challenge for Arctic decision-makers, particularly the Nordic Five and the Baltic Three, as well as global policymakers in the United States, China, and Russia.

At the same time, Reykjavik, an emerging “Arctic Singapore” in my imagination, could become a future hub of innovation, cutting-edge research, energy and resource exploration, and the evolving “Arctic Silk Road,” while continuing to flourish as an attractive international tourist destination.

My heartfelt thanks to the Arctic Circle Assembly, the University of Iceland, and Professors Jon Geir Petursson and Tom Barry, as well as Ahmed Nawaz, Doctoral Fellow, for their invaluable facilitation, generous hospitality, and warm collegiality. Their efforts made this visit intellectually rewarding and personally memorable.