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GS Paper: GS2

  • Gatekeeper Model to prevent suicides in prisons

    In a bid to prevent suicides triggered by mental health issues in prisons across the country, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, has recommended the “Gatekeeper Model”.

    What is the ‘Gatekeeper Model’?

    • It is a model where selected inmates, trained to identify prisoners at risk of suicide, would refer them to treatment or supportive services.
    • Prisoners with mental disorders will be regularly assessed for the severity of the suicidal risk and also put on regular and supervised medication.
    • To address the prisoner’s mental health needs, the correctional facility would have links to community-based initiatives like the District Mental Health Programme.

    Buddy system

    • The concept of a ‘Buddy System’ — social support through trained prisoners called “buddies” or “listeners” — was found to have a good impact on the well-being of suicidal prisoners.
    • Periodic telephone conversations with friends and family would also foster support.

    Why such a move?

    • Emphasizing the mental health of prisoners, the Ministry said incarcerated people could face many vulnerabilities during the pandemic, which might impact their mental wellbeing.
    • The prison staff was also working under tremendous pressure and faced challenges in performing their duty while safeguarding themselves from contracting the infection.

  • Biocentric jurisprudence for nature

    Context

    In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of India has sought to move away from an anthropocentric basis of law.

    Biocentrism Vs. Anthropocentrism

    • Anthropocentrism argues that of all the species on earth humans are the most significant and that all other resources on earth may be justifiably exploited for the benefit of human beings.
    • The philosophy of biocentrism holds that the natural environment has its own set of rights which is independent of its ability to be exploited by or to be useful to humans.
    • Biocentrism often comes into conflict with anthropocentrism.

    Supreme Court of India upholds biocentric principles

    • The Great Indian Bustard is a gravely endangered species, with hardly about 200 alive in India today.
    • The overhead power lines have become a threat to the life of these species as these birds frequently tend to collide with these power lines and get killed.
    • Recently, the Supreme Court in M.K. Ranjitsinh & Others vs Union of India & Others, said that in all cases where the overhead lines in power projects exist, the governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat shall take steps forthwith to install bird diverters.
    • In protecting the birds, the Court has affirmed and emphasised the biocentric values of eco-preservation.
    • A noteworthy instance of the application of anthropocentrism in the legal world is in that of the “Snail darter” case in the United States.
    • The Supreme Court of the United States of America in Tennessee Valley Authority vs Hill, had held that since the “Snail darter” fish was a specifically protected species under the Act, the executive could not proceed with the reservoir project.

    Human role in extinction of species

    • About 50 years ago, there were 4,50,000 lions in Africa. Today, there are hardly 20,000.
    • Indiscriminate monoculture farming in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra is leading to the extinction of orangutans.
    • Rhinos are hunted for the so-called medicinal value of their horns and are slowly becoming extinct.
    • From the time humans populated Madagascar about 2,000 years ago, about 15 to 20 species of Lemurs, which are primates, have become extinct.
    • The compilation prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists about 37,400 species that are gravely endangered; and the list is ever growing.

    Evolution of Right of Nature laws in Constitutions

    • Pieces of legislation are slowly evolving that fall in the category of the “Right of Nature laws”.
    • These seek to travel away from an anthropocentric basis of law to a biocentric one.
    • The Constitution of India is significantly silent on any explicitly stated, binding legal obligations we owe to our fellow species and to the environment that sustains us.
    • It is to the credit of the Indian judiciary that it interpreted the enduring principles of sustainable development and read them, inter alia, into the precepts of Article 21 of the Constitution.
    • In September 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognise “Rights of Nature” in its Constitution.
    • Bolivia has also joined the movement by establishing Rights of Nature laws too.
    • In November 2010, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania became the first major municipality in the United States to recognise the Rights of Nature.
    • These laws, like the Constitution of the countries that they are part of, are still works in progress.

    Conclusion

    In times like this the Supreme Court’s judgment in M.K. Ranjithsinh upholding the biocentric principles of coexistence is a shot in the arm for nature conservation. One does hope that the respective governments implement the judgment of the Court.

  • Secrecy of Vote must in any election: SC

    The Supreme Court has again held that in any election, be it to Parliament or State legislature, the maintenance of secrecy of voting is “a must”.

    What is the Secret Vote?

    • The secret vote/ secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter’s choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous.
    • It aims for forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote-buying.
    • The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy.

    What did the Supreme Court rule?

    • Secrecy is a part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression.
    • The confidentiality of choice strengthens democracy.
    • The principle of secrecy of ballots is an important postulate of constitutional democracy, the court said.
    • It is the policy of the law to protect the right of voters to the secrecy of the ballot.
    • Even a remote or distinct possibility that a voter can be forced to disclose for whom she has voted would act as a positive constraint and a check on the freedom to exercise of the franchise.

    Voter’s discretion is allowed

    • A voter can also voluntarily waive the privilege of non-disclosure.
    • The privilege ends when the voter decides to waive the privilege and instead volunteers to disclose to whom she had voted.
    • Nor can a complaint be entertained from any, including the person who wants to keep the voter’s mouth sealed as to why she disclosed for whom she voted said the court.

  • Right to be Forgotten in India

    A TV celebrity has approached the Delhi High Court with a plea saying that his videos, photographs, and articles, etc. be removed from the internet citing his “Right to be Forgotten”.

    What is the plea about?

    • The plea mentions that the posts and videos on the internet related to him have caused the petitioner psychological pain for his diminutive acts.
    • The plea also states that the petitioner’s mistakes in his personal life become and remains in public knowledge for generations to come.
    • Consequently, the values enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and the emergent jurisprudential concept of the Right to be Forgotten becomes extremely relevant in the present case.”

    What is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in the Indian context?

    • The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to privacy, which is governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament.
    • In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict.

    What does the Personal Data Protection Bill say about this?

    • The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019, and it aims to set out provisions meant for the protection of the personal data of individuals.
    • Clause 20 under Chapter V of this draft bill titled “Rights of Data Principal” mentions the “Right to be Forgotten.”
    • It states that the “data principal (the person to whom the data is related) shall have the right to restrict or prevent the continuing disclosure of his personal data by a data fiduciary”.
    • Therefore, broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link, limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held by data fiduciaries.
    • A data fiduciary means any person, including the State, a company, any juristic entity, or any individual who alone or in conjunction with others determines the purpose and means of the processing of personal data.

  • What is National Security Council (NSC)?

    The budgetary allocation for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) increased 10 times from ₹33.17 crores in 2016-17 to ₹333.58 crores in 2017-18.

    National Security Council (NSC)

    • The NSC is an executive government agency tasked with advising the Prime Minister’s Office on matters of national security and strategic interest.
    • It was established by the former PM of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 19 November 1998, with Brajesh Mishra as the first National Security Advisor.
    • Prior to the formation of the NSC, these activities were overseen by the Principal Secretary to the preceding Prime Minister.

    Members

    • Besides the NSA the Deputy National Security Advisors, the Ministers of Defence, External Affairs, Home, Finance of the Government of India, and the Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog are members of the National Security Council.
    • PM can chair the meeting of NSC (for eg – PM chaired the meeting of NSC Post Pulwama to discuss heightened tension with Pakistan).
    • Other members may be invited to attend its monthly meetings, as and when is required.

    Organizational structure

    • The NSC is the apex body of the three-tiered structure of the national security management system in India.
    • The three tiers are the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board, and a secretariat from the Joint Intelligence Committee.

  • Surveillance Laws in India and Individual Privacy

    After alleged WhatsApp snooping cases the government has claimed that all interception in India takes place lawfully.

    Try this question in the comment box:

    Q.There should be some reasonable basis or some tangible evidence to initiate or seek approval for interception by State authorities. Critically comment with respect to individual privacy and surveillance laws in India. (250W)

    What are the laws covering surveillance in India?

    Communication surveillance in India takes place primarily under two laws:

    1. Telegraph Act, 1885: It deals with interception of calls.
    2. Information Technology Act, 2000: It was enacted to deal with surveillance of all electronic communication, following the Supreme Court’s intervention in 1996.

    [I] Telegraph Act, 1885

    • Call interception: Under Section 5(2) of this law, the government can intercept calls only in certain situations.
    • For sovereignty: They include the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offense.
    • Free speech restrictions: These are the same restrictions imposed on free speech under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
    • Exceptions for journalists: A provision in Section 5(2) states that even this lawful interception cannot take place against journalists.

    Supreme Court intervention

    • In Public Union for Civil Liberties v Union of India (1996), the Supreme Court pointed out the lack of procedural safeguards in the provisions of the Telegraph Act.
    • The court noted that authorities engaging in interception were not even maintaining adequate records and logs on an interception.
    • It noted that- tapping is a serious invasion of an individual’s privacy.
    • The Supreme Court’s guidelines formed the basis of introducing Rule 419A in the Telegraph Rules in 2007 and later in the rules prescribed under the IT Act in 2009.
    • Rule 419A states that a Secretary in the MHA can pass orders of interception in the case of the Centre, and a secretary-level officer who is in charge of the Home Department can issue such directives in States.

    [II] IT Act, 2000

    • Electronic surveillance: Section 69 of the IT Act and the IT (Procedure for Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring, and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009 were enacted to further the legal framework for electronic surveillance.
    • Data interception: Under the IT Act, all electronic transmission of data can be intercepted.
    • Section 69 of the IT Act adds another aspect that makes it broader — interception, monitoring, and decryption of digital information “for the investigation of an offense”.

    Identifying the gaps

    • In 2012, the Planning Commission was tasked with identifying the gaps in laws affecting privacy.
    • It pointed out divergence in-laws on permitted grounds, “type of interception”, “granularity of information that can be intercepted”, the degree of assistance from service providers, and the “destruction and retention” of intercepted material.
    • Although the grounds of selecting a person for surveillance and the extent of information gathering have to be recorded in writing, the wide reach of these laws has not been tested in court against the cornerstone of fundamental rights.

    Only inference: Right to Privacy is not absolute

    • Only in such exceptional circumstances, however, can an individual’s right to privacy be superseded to protect the national interest.
    • In today’s times, when fake news and illegal activities such as cyber terrorism on the dark web are on the rise, the importance of reserving such powers to conduct surveillance cannot be undermined.

    What is our concern?

    • For Pegasus-like spyware to be used lawfully, the government would have to invoke both the IT Act and the Telegraph Act.
    • There is no comprehensive data protection law leaving ambiguities over several laws.
    • A comprehensive data protection law to address the gaps in existing frameworks for surveillance is yet to enact.

    What should be the basis for surveillance?

    • There should be some reasonable basis or some tangible evidence to initiate or seek approval for interception by State authorities.
    • Any action without such evidence or basis would be struck down by courts as arbitrary, or invasive of one’s right to privacy.
    • Any digression from the ethical and legal parameters set by law would be tantamount to a deliberate invasion of citizens’ privacy and make India a surveillance state.

    Way forward

    • The security of a device becomes one of the fundamental bedrock of maintaining user trust as society becomes more and more digitized.
    • There is an urgent need to take up this issue seriously by constituting an independent high-level inquiry with credible members and experts that can restore confidence and conduct its proceedings transparently.

    Conclusion

    • We must recognize that national security starts with securing the smartphones of every single Indian by embracing technologies such as encryption rather than deploying spyware.
    • This is a core part of our fundamental right to privacy.
    • This intrusion by spyware is not merely an infringement of the rights of the citizens of the country but also a worrying development for India’s national security apparatus.

    Back2Basics: Right to Privacy

    • Right to Privacy can be defined as:
    1. a right to be let alone;
    2. the right of a person to be free from any unwarranted publicity;
    3. the right to live without any unwarranted interference by the public in matters with which the public is not necessarily concerned”.
    • Article 21 states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty.
    • The right to privacy is not enumerated as a Fundamental Right in the Constitution of India.
    • After reading Article 21, it has been interpreted that the term ‘life’ includes all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete, and worth living.
    • The scope of this right first came up for consideration in Kharak Singh’s Case which was concerned with the validity of certain regulations that permitted surveillance of suspects.
    • The 1978’s judgment in Maneka Gandhi Case established the new doctrine that the distinct fundamental rights are not carved out from each other but overlap paving way for the Right to Privacy.
    • The latest interpretation included the Naz Foundation Case (2009) in which Delhi HC gave the landmark decision on consensual homosexuality.

  • Pegasus scandal and implications for privacy

    Context

    The Pegasus spyware, created by NSO Group in Israel has created a political storm in India over its alleged use by the government.

    About the Pegasus spyware controversy

    • It uses a “zero-click” attack which allows the device to be taken over remotely by exploiting software and hardware vulnerabilities.
    • The Israeli Defence Ministry’s stated that Pegasus and other cyber products are exported “exclusively to government entities” and are only for the purpose of preventing and investigating crime and counter terrorism.
    • Pegasus has been used to illegally hack into people’s lives and to obtain private information outside the boundaries of the law.
    • Those who were supposedly targeted range from the uppermost echelons of the judiciary, Opposition party leaders, activists and journalists.

    How it harms freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution

    • A person has the basic fundamental rights of liberty, privacy, speech and expression amongst others.
    • These rights go hand in hand with each other.
    • The alleged use of Pegasus to illegally hack into persons’ lives, listen in on private conversations, to thereafter use this private information against said persons in hope of gaining undue advantage, are all outside the boundaries of the law.
    •  Surveillance on this level would have the effect of instilling fear and directly hampering a person’s ability to freely make their own decisions.
    • The effect is that a person does not have the freedom to think, to speak or even be in the privacy of their own homes.

    Legal provisions for surveillance

    • In December 2018, the government authorised 10 security and intelligence agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource.
    • The authorisation is required before any of the 10 notified agencies can intercept, monitor or decrypt any information.
    • This and other grounds are being taken by the government before the Supreme Court to defend its stance.
    • The Data Protection Bill (yet to be passed by Parliament) offers no protection in respect of surveillance. 
    • Sections 43 and 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 criminalise hacking.

    Conclusion

    The majority is not always right. A democracy has the indelible right to question, to demand answers and explanations. The government has many questions to answer and steps to take to protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

    Back2Basics: Zero-click attack

    • A zero-click attack is a remote cyber attack which does not require any interaction from the target to compromise it.
    • Pegasus spyware eliminates the need for human errors to compromise a device and instead relies on software or hardware flaws to gain complete access to a device.
    • Zero-click attacks occur only when an attacker is able to takeover a device remotely after successfully exploiting vulnerabilities in the software and hardware of the phone.
    • To make this kind of attack successful, an attacker needs to exploit flaws in a device, whereas spear phishing is a social engineering attack.

  • A cardinal omission in the COVID-19 package

    Context

    On July 8, 2021, the Union government announced the “India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package: Phase II”. But it lacks provision for the medical workforce.

    Objectives of the package

    • The stated purpose of the package is to boost health infrastructure and prepare for a possible third wave of COVID-19.
    • There is plan to increase COVID-19 beds, improve the oxygen availability and supply, create buffer stocks of essential medicines; purchase equipment and strengthen paediatric beds.

    What is lacking in the package?

    • Workforce shortage: The package barely has any attention on improving the availability of health human resources.
    • As reported in rural health statistics and the national health profile there are vacancies for staff in government health facilities, which range from 30% to 80% depending upon the sub-group of medical officers, specialist doctors to nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists and radiographers, amongst others.
    • Interstate variation: In addition, there are wide inter-State variations, with States that have poor health indicators with the highest vacancies.

    Way forward

    • Package for filling the existing vacancies: The COVID-19 package II needs to be urgently supplemented by another plan and a similar financial package (with shared Union and State government funding) to fill the existing vacancies of health staff at all levels. 
    • An objective approach to assess the mid-term health human resource needs could be the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS).
    • IPHS prescribes the human resources and infrastructure needed to make various types of government health facilities functional.
    • The pandemic should be used as an opportunity to prepare India’s health system for the future.
    • Scrutiny of the progress on policy decision: The progress on key policy decisions, for the last few years, to strengthen India’s health system, including those in India’s national health policy of 2017, need to be objectively scrutinised.
    • These two sets of policy decisions should be reviewed and progress monitored, through a meeting of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare, of which the Health Ministers of the States are members.

    Conclusion

    India’s health system will not benefit from ad hoc and a patchwork of one or other small packages. It essentially needs some transformational changes.

  • OPEC Reaches Compromise With U.A.E. Over Oil Production

    Context

    The end to the UAE’s weeks-long impasse with Saudi Arabia and Russia, a non-OPEC state, was brought about by Sunday’s deal.

    What was the deal about?

    • United Arab Emirates (UAE), said to hold the world’s largest untapped crude reserves, had demanded an increase in its oil output quotas.
    • The end to the UAE’s weeks-long impasse with Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest crude exporters, and Russia, a non-OPEC state, was brought about by Sunday’s deal.
    • Under its terms, the UAE’s demand for an increase in its oil output quotas, in recognition of its higher production capacity, has been conceded.
    • The baselines have also been raised for Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, and Kuwait.
    • The bloc will now step up crude production by 400,000 barrels a day starting in August.
    • The output boost is in response to rising oil prices in the wake of the rebound in economic activity.
    • The cartel had cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels a day (mbd) as oil demand fell from 100 mbd to 91.1 mbd and prices plummeted from $70 in January 2020 to around $20 in April.

    Strain in Saudi Arabia-UAE relations

    • The UAE has played hardball during the bloc’s attempts to deal with the pandemic-induced price volatility.
    • Thus, while the internal rift has been resolved for now, the danger cannot be ruled out of an increasingly economically and politically assertive UAE flexing its muscle.
    • Bilateral relations between the traditional allies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have been especially strained since the UAE established diplomatic ties with Israel last year and withdrew troops from the Saudi-spearheaded war in Yemen the year before.
    • A more recent arena of tension is the tariffs Riyadh has imposed on imports from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.
    • Saudi Arabia will now exclude from the GCC tariff agreement goods made by companies with a workforce of less than 25% of locals and industrial products with less than 40% of the added value after their transformation process.
    • Home to a predominantly migrant population, the move could hit the UAE especially hard.

    OPEC’s concerns

    • The OPEC, forecast in 2016 that a strict implementation of the Paris climate accord could see the demand for oil peak by 2030.
    • There is an eagerness to maximise the returns on their substantial hydrocarbon resources, amid growing speculation of a peak in oil demand within sight.
    • The International Energy Agency (IEA), which in 2016 forecast a continued rise in oil consumption until the 2040s, has more recently hinted at about a 5% rise or fall relative to the demand before the pandemic within a decade.
    • OPEC’s other concerns are the stabilization of world oil prices without jeopardizing national expenditure programs, and the diversification of economies in anticipation of the unfolding global energy transition.

    Conclusion

    The latest OPEC compromise echoes growing recognition of the delicate balance between competing domestic and global priorities.

    B2BASICS

    OPEC

    • The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
    • It aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil in the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.
    • It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
    • OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and which shares the ideals of the organization.
    • Gabon terminated its membership in January 1995. However, it rejoined the Organization in July 2016.
    • As of 2019, OPEC has a total of 14 Member Countries viz. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates(UAE), Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Angola, Ecuador, and Venezuela are members of OPEC.

     

  • ‘Open talks’ with the Taliban is India’s strategic necessity

    Context

    With over a third of Afghanistan’s more than 400 districts under Taliban control, the talk-to-the-Taliban option is indeed the best of the many less than perfect options available to India.

    India need a reset in its Afghanistan policy

    • India has ‘temporarily’ closed its consulate in Kandahar.
    • This follows the decision to suspend operations in the Indian consulates in Jalalabad and Herat.
    • India’s decision to partially “withdraw” from Afghanistan shows that betting only on the government in Kabul was a big mistake,
    • It also shows that India realises the threat the Taliban poses to Indian assets and presence in Afghanistan.
    • To safeguard its civilian assets there as well as to stay relevant in the unfolding ‘great game’ in and around Afghanistan, India must fundamentally reset its Afghanistan policy.
    • India must, in its own national interest, begin ‘open talks’ with the Taliban before it is too late.
    • Open dialogue with the Taliban should no longer be a taboo; it is a strategic necessity.

    Reason for avoiding open talks with Taliban

    • There are at least five possible reasons why India appears to want to keep the Taliban engagement slow and behind closed doors.
    • First, if India chooses to engage the Taliban directly, it could make Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, to look towards China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for national security and personal political survival.
    • Second, India is also faced with the dilemma of who to talk to within the Taliban given that it is hardly a monolith.
    • Third, given the global opprobrium that Taliban faced in its earlier avatar and the lack of evidence about whether the outfit is a changed lot today, New Delhi might not want to court the Taliban so soon.
    • Fourth, there is little clarity about what the Taliban’s real intentions are going forward and what they would do after ascending to power in Kabul.
    • Fifth, it would not be totally unreasonable to consider the possibility of Pakistan acting out against India in Kashmir if India were to establish deeper links with the Taliban.

    Reasons India should engage with the Taliban openly

    • Wide international recognition: Whether we like it or not, the Taliban, is going to be part of the political scheme of things in Afghanistan, and unlike in 1996, a large number of players in the international community are going to recognise/negotiate/do business with the Taliban.
    • Countering Pakistan: The Taliban today is looking for regional and global partners for recognition and legitimacy especially in the neighbourhood.
    • So the less proactive the Indian engagement with the Taliban, the stronger Pakistan-Taliban relations would become.
    • A worldly-wise and internationally-exposed Taliban 2.0 would develop its own agency and sovereign claims including perhaps calling into question the legitimacy of the Durand Line separating Pakistan and Afghanistan, something Pakistan was always concerned about. T
    • The Taliban would want to hedge their bets on how far to listen to Pakistan.
    • That is precisely when New Delhi should engage the Taliban.
    • Security of civilian assets: India needs to court all parties in Afghanistan, including the Taliban if it wants to ensure its security of its civilian assets there.
    • It makes neither strategic nor economic sense to withdraw from Afghanistan after spending over $3 billion, something the Government seems to be prepared to do
    • Being a part of Afghanistan’s future course: If India is not proactive in Afghanistan at least now, late as it is, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and China will emerge as the shapers of Afghanistan’s political and geopolitical destiny, which for sure will be detrimental to Indian interests there.
    • Continental grand strategy:  Backchannel talks with Pakistan and a consequent ceasefire on the Line of Control, political dialogue with the mainstream Kashmiri leadership, secret parleys with Taliban all indicate that India is opening up its congested north-western frontier.
    •  Except for the strategic foray into the Indo-Pacific, India today is strategically boxed in the region and it must break out of it. Afghanistan could provide, if not immediately, India with such a way out.

    Consider the question ” India’s Afghan policy is at a major crossroads; to safeguard its civilian assets there as well as to stay relevant in the unfolding ‘great game’ in and around Afghanistan, New Delhi must fundamentally reset its Afghanistan policy. Comment.” 

    Conclusion

    In the end, India’s engagement with the Taliban may or may not achieve much, but non-engagement will definitely hurt Indian interests.

    Back2Basics: Durand Line

    • Durand Line, boundary established in the Hindu Kush in 1893 running through the tribal lands between Afghanistan and British India, marking their respective spheres of influence.
    • In modern times it has marked the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
    • The acceptance of this line—which was named for Sir Mortimer Durand, who induced ʿAbdor Raḥmān Khān, amir of Afghanistan, to agree to a boundary—may be said to have settled the Indo-Afghan frontier problem for the rest of the British period.