It appeared during a time when there was a bi-polar system of world relations.

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" Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko explained that this alliance is only natural as "Moscow, New Delhi and Beijing have common positions on many issues and support a multi-polar world order system.

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Besides, the Mars Polar Lander came to grief with that system.

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Information on Arctic Ice research can be found at The International Arctic Climate System Study, a global consortium of polar scientists.

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