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GS Paper: GS2

  • What is the EAGLE Act of US Visas?

    Legislation to remove the per-country cap on permanent residency visas, or green cards, for the US has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

    What is the EAGLE Act?

    • Eagle stands for Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, 2021.
    • The act seeks to phase out the seven percent per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas and raises the per-country limit on family-sponsored visas from seven percent to 15 percent.
    • It provides for a nine-year period for the elimination of this limit.
    • The seven percent limit was introduced in the mid-20th century, which has led countries with relatively small populations to be allocated the same number of visas as a relatively large-population country.

    Benefits of the act

    • It will benefit the US economy by allowing American employers to focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace.
    • The bill will be advantageous for Indian job-seekers who currently rely on temporary visas or await green cards to work in the US.

    How does it help Indians?

    • 75 percent of the backlog for employment‐based visas was made up of Indians.
    • Backlogged Indian workers face an impossible wait of nine decades if they all could remain in the line.
    • More than 200,000 petitions filed for Indians could expire as a result of the workers dying of old age before they receive green cards.
    • With the EAGLE Act, the per-country cap would be removed, which may expedite the petitions for those applying for employment-based green cards.

  • Model Tenancy Act 2019

    The Union Cabinet has approved the Model Tenancy Act (MTA) to be sent to the States and Union Territories to enact legislation or amend laws on rental properties.

    Model Tenancy Act

    • MTA is aimed at opening up of the vacant housing stock for rental housing purposes and helping bridge the trust deficit that exists between tenants and landlords by clearly delineating their obligations.
    • The housing and urban affairs ministry had floated the draft model tenancy law in July 2019.

    Major provisions of MTA

    (1) Rent Court and Rent Tribunal:

    • To ensure speedy redressal of disputes, the Act calls for establishing a separate Rent Court and Rent Tribunal in every state/UTs to hear appeals for matters connected to rental housing.
    • Only the rent court and no civil court will have the jurisdiction to hear and decide the applications relating to disputes between landowner and tenant and matters connected with it.
    • It calls for the disposal of complaints and appeals by the Rent Court and Rent Tribunals within 60 days.

    (2) Tenancy Agreements:

    • It also seeks to establish an independent authority in every state and Union Territory for the registration of tenancy agreements.
    • Under the Act, unless otherwise agreed in the tenancy agreement, the landlord will be responsible for activities like structural repairs except those necessitated by damage caused by the tenant etc.
    • On his part, a tenant will be responsible for drain cleaning, switches and socket repairs, kitchen fixtures repairs, replacement of glass panels in windows, doors and maintenance of gardens and open spaces, among others.

    For residential and commercial properties

    • The Act will apply to premises let out for residential, commercial or educational use, but not for industrial use. It also won’t cover hotels, lodging houses, inns, etc.
    • This model law will be applied prospectively and will not affect existing tenancies.
    • It seeks to cover both urban as well as rural areas.
    • The Act says that a security deposit equal to a maximum of two month’s rent in the case of residential premises and a maximum of six month’s rent in the case of non-residential premises would have to be paid by the tenants.

    How will states implement it?

    • As per the MoU signed under PMAY-U, the states and union territories would legislate or amend the existing rental laws on the lines of the MTA.

    Why was a need felt to bring this on?

    (1) For a rental economy

    • Without a well-rounded rental policy and the proper implementation of the rental contracts, there was no sound mechanism to resolve tenant-landlord conflicts.
    • Property owners find it challenging to evict tenants if they misuse the property.
    • To steer clear of such complications, such property owners often chose to keep these homes vacant instead of renting them out.

    (2) Unattractive rental yield

    • In India, the rental yield for residential property is quite low, even in bigger cities. It is in the range of 1.5% to 3% of the capital values.
    • This has disincentivized people from investing in second or third homes which could be rented out.
    • Often, they also prefer to leave their properties vacant in case they return to India.
    • NRIs avoid leasing their residential properties for fear of squatters and dealing with the legalities of eviction.

    How will MTA help?

    (1) Unlocking homes

    • It will unlock vacant houses for rental purposes
    • It will enable the creation of adequate rental housing stock for all the income groups thereby addressing the issue of homelessness.

    (2) Helping migrants

    • Rental housing is a preferred option for students and migrants.
    • It will balance the rights of both landlords and tenants.

    (3) Effective negotiations

    • There is no monetary ceiling under MTA, which enables parties to negotiate and execute the agreement on mutually agreed terms.
    • It will give confidence to landlords to let out their vacant premises, the housing ministry said.
    • The Act also tries to address how a renter can legitimately increase the rent.

    (4) Control over encroachments

    • It has proposed limiting the advance security deposits to two months’ rent and has also suggested heavy penalties for tenants who decide to overstay.
    • Those who do may have to shell out double the rent for two months and even four months.

    (5) Rights of tenants

    • The landowner cannot cut power and water supplies in case of a dispute and would have to provide a 24-hour notice to tenants to carry out repair work.
    • Should the landlords wish to increase the rent, they will need to provide a three-months notice to the tenants.
    • These measures would go a long way in protecting the rights of a tenant as it regulates the rent hikes that tenants have had to face.

    Challenges ahead

    While the proposals of the Act have been widely welcomed, their implementation may not be very simple.

    (1) Not Binding nature

    • The Act is not binding on the states as land and urban development remain state subjects.
    • Like in the case of RERA, the fear is that states may choose not to follow guidelines, diluting the essence of the Model Act.

    (2) Issues over paltry rents

    • Also, the Model Act is prospectively applicable and will not affect the existing tenancies.
    • The repeal of rent control Acts can be governed by political exigencies.
    • This may be a complicated process in cities like Mumbai, where tenants have occupied residential properties in prime areas for absurdly low rents.

  • US investigation into India’s Digital Services Tax (DST)

    The US government has announced the further suspension of punitive tariffs for six months on India, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK while it continues to resolve the DST investigation amid the ongoing multilateral negotiations at the OECD and the G20.

    Do you remember?

    GAFA tax—named after Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon—is a proposed digital tax to be levied on large technology and internet companies.

    What are the Digital Services Taxes in India?

    • The NDA government had moved an amendment in the Finance Bill 2020-21 imposing a 2 percent digital service tax on trade and services by non-resident e-commerce operators with a turnover of over Rs 2 crore.
    • The new levy has expanded the ambit of the equalization levy for non-resident e-commerce operators involved in the supply of services, including the online sale of goods and provision of services.
    • E-commerce operators are obligated to pay the tax at the end of each quarter.
    • Estimates by the USTR indicate that the value of the DST payable by US-based company groups to India will be up to approximately $55 million per year.

    Also read:

    What are Digital Services Taxes?

    What is the story?

    • The US is focused on finding a multilateral solution to a range of key issues related to international taxation, including our concerns with digital services taxes.
    • It is trying to reaching a consensus on international tax issues through the OECD and G20 processes.

    Investigation regarding DST

    • The US has conducted a year-long investigation into digital services taxes imposed by countries, stating that they are against tech companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook.
    • It had determined that the digital services taxes adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK has discriminated against US digital companies and were inconsistent with principles of international taxation, and burdened US companies.

    What’s the case against India?

    • In the case of India, the USTR’s proposed course of action includes additional tariffs of up to 25 percent ad valorem on an aggregate level of trade.
    • Around 26 categories of goods are in the preliminary list of products that would be subject to the additional tariffs.
    • This includes shrimps, basmati rice, cigarette paper, cultured pearls, semi-precious stones, silver powder and silver articles of jewelry, gold mixed link necklaces, and neck chains, and certain furniture of bentwood.

    Why does India need DST?

    • The agenda to reform international tax law so that digital companies are taxed where economic activities are carried is still a work in progress.
    • Due to this, countries are worried that they might cede their right to tax incomes. Therefore, many countries have either proposed or implemented a digital services tax.
    • The proliferation of digital service taxes (DSTs) is a symptom of the changing international economic order.
    • Countries such as India which provides large markets for digital corporations seek a greater right to tax incomes.
    • The taxation of the digitalized economy turned out to be a relatively contentious issue because there is a huge asymmetry in digital service providers and consumers.

  • [pib] SDG India Index 2021

    The third edition of the SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020–21 was released by NITI Aayog.

    SDG India Index

    • The index measures the progress at the national and sub-national level in the country’s journey towards meeting the Global Goals and targets.
    • It has been successful as an advocacy tool to propagate the messages of sustainability, resilience, and partnerships, as well.
    • From covering 13 Goals, 39 targets, and 62 indicators in the first edition in 2018-19 to 17 Goals, 54 targets and 100 indicators in the second; this third edition of the index covers 17 Goals, 70 targets, and 115 indicators.

    Aims and objectives

    • The construction of the index and the ensuing methodology embodies the central objectives of measuring the performance of States and UTs on the SDGs and ranking them.
    • It aims at supporting States and UTs in identifying areas which require more attention; and promoting healthy competition among them.

    Methodology and Process

    • The index estimation is based on data on indicators for the first 16 goals, with a qualitative assessment for Goal 17.
    • The technical process of target setting and normalization of scores follow the globally established methodology.
    • While target setting enables the measurement of the distance from the target for each indicator, the process of normalization of positive and negative indicators allows for comparability and estimation of goal-wise scores.
    • The composite score of a State is derived by assigning each goal the same weight, keeping in mind the indivisible nature of the 2030 Agenda.
    • The selection of indicators is preceded by a consultative process undertaken in close coordination with MoSPI, Union Ministries and stakeholders from States and UTs.

    Highlights of the 2021 Report

    States and Union Territories are classified as below based on their SDG India Index score:

    • Aspirant: 0–49
    • Performer: 50–64
    • Front-Runner: 65–99
    • Achiever: 100

    Its significance

    • The index represents the articulation of the comprehensive nature of the Global Goals under the 2030 Agenda while being attuned to the national priorities.
    • The modular nature of the index has become a policy tool and a ready reckoner for gauging the progress of States and UTs on the nature of goals including health, education, gender, economic growth and climate change and the environment.

    Back2Basics: Sustainable Development Goals

    • The UN General Assembly in its 70thSession considered and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the next 15 years.
    • The 17 SDGs came into force with effect from 1st January 2016.
    • Though not legally binding, the SDGs have become de facto international obligations and have the potential to reorient domestic spending priorities of the countries during the next fifteen years.
    • Countries are expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving these goals.
    • Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans, and programs.

  • Challenges federalism faces in India

    The article highlights the challenges faced by the federalism in India in various domains and forms and suggests the ways to deal with these challenges.

    Growing tendency towards Centralisation

    • Moves to erode the powers of State governments are not new.
    • The Centre, on several occasions, has used its powers to dismiss or use the Governor to intimidate democratically elected governments.
    • During the Emergency, education was moved to the Concurrent list which was until then a State subject under the constitutional division of responsibilities.
    • However, the changes to federal relations at present are more systemic.
    • There has been increasing centralisation in resource allocations and welfare interventions.
    • After GST, the gap between the revenue that State governments are allowed to generate and the expenditure that they are expected to incur has been widening.
    • The Centre has been encroaching into domains under State government control through centrally sponsored schemes in sectors such as education and health.

    Three domains in which federalism faces challenges

    1) State-capital relation

    • At present there is growing trend towards centralising economic power in conjunction with political centralisation.
    • The consolidation and expansion of a few big business groups is taking place, probably at the expense of smaller players.
    •  On the one hand, the Centre has sought to insulate Indian big business from global competition by choosing not to enter into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
    • But the power of small businesses is eroded through support for GST and the call for a single national market.
    • So, big businesses are more likely to benefit from a removal of State-level barriers to trade at the expense of smaller regional players.

    2) Institutional transgression

    • Central institutions are increasingly weakening the policy levers of State institutions.
    • There are growing allegations of the misuse of institutions such as the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate and the National Investigation Agency are being used to intimidate opponents..
    •  Direct transfers to beneficiaries of welfare schemes bypassing States are also contributing to this dynamic.
    • The Centre is increasingly ignoring elected representatives of State governments, holding meetings with State secretaries and district collectors on issues that are primarily under State control.
    • Governors perform active administrative roles instead of their signatory roles.
    • To ensure national uniformity in educational institutions NEET was introduced in medical education.
    • But it subverts the affirmative action policies developed at the regional level in response to local.
    • In the domain of health, the Centre has now put State governments at a disadvantage in vaccine usage by fixing differential pricing for procuring vaccines.

    3) Socio-cultural foundations

    • Beside the legal-constitutional aspects of federalism, it is diversity in cultural foundation of regions that sustains Indian federalism.
    •  Markers of regional identities and regional socio-cultural practices are now interpreted as belonging to a pan-Indian Hindu tradition.

    Conclusion

    To stem this trend towards centralisation we need to provide more legal and constitutional safeguard to the States, strong regional political assertion and a strong federal coalition.

  • Child labour in India

    The article highlights the risk posed by pandemic to the gains made by India on reducing the child labour in India.

    Child labour in India

    • A Government of India survey (NSS Report No. 585, 2017-18) suggests that only 79.6%. of the children in the age group of 14-17 years are attending educational institutions (formal and informal).
    • The Census of India 2011 reports 10.1 million working children in the age group of 5-14 years.
    • Out of whom 8.1 million are in rural areas mainly engaged as cultivators (26%) and agricultural labourers (32.9%).
    • UNESCO estimates based on the 2011 Census record 38.1 million children as “out of school” i.e.18.3% of total children in the age group of 6-13 years.
    • A Rapid Survey on Children (2013-14), jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and UNICEF, found that less than half of children in the age group of 10-14 years have completed primary education.

    How policies and initiatives helped reduce child labour in India (2001-11)

    • Child labour in India decreased in the decade 2001 to 2011.
    • Policy interventions such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005, the Right to Education Act 2009 and the Mid Day Meal Scheme have paved the way for children to be in schools along with guaranteed wage employment (unskilled) for rural families.
    • Efforts towards convergence of government schemes is also the focus of the implementation of the National Child Labour Project.
    • Ratifying International Labour Organization Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 in 2017, the Indian government further demonstrated its commitment to the elimination of child labour.
    • The Ministry of Labour and Employment-operated online portal allows to share information and coordinate on child labour cases at the national, State and local levels for effective enforcement of child labour laws.

    Challenges ahead

    • The economic contraction and lockdowns have worsened the situation, posing a real risk of backtracking the gains made in eliminating child labour.
    • With increased economic insecurity, lack of social protection and reduced household income, children from poor households are being pushed to contribute to the family income.
    • With closure of schools and challenges of distance learning, children may drop out leaving little scope for return unless affirmative and immediate actions are taken.
    • As many schools and educational institutions are moving to online platforms for continuation of learning, the ‘digital divide’ is a challenge that India has to reconcile within the next several years.
    • The NSS Report titled ‘Household Social Consumption on Education in India’ suggests that in 2017-18, only 24% of Indian households had access to an Internet facility.
    • The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2020 survey highlights that a third of the total enrolled children received some kind of learning materials from their teachers during the reference period (October 2020) as digital mode of education was opted for.

    Way forward

    •  It is through strategic partnerships and collaborations involving government, employers, trade unions, community-based organisations and child labour families that we could make a difference building back better and sooner.
    • We need a strong alliance paving our way towards ending child labour in all its forms by 2025 to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 8.7.

    Consider the question “What are the policy measures and programmatic intervention implemented to reduce the child labour in India. How Covid-19 threatens the gains made on reducing the child labour?”

    Conclusion

    To deal with the child labour challenge, we need the right level of commitment among all the relevant stakeholders and the right mix of policy and programmatic interventions are present.

  • COVID diplomacy 2.0, a different order of tasks

    The article highlights the contrast in India’s diplomacy during the first wave of the pandemic and the second wave. It also discusses the challenges ahead for India.

    India’s diplomatic structure in two Covid waves

    •  In the past month, the focus for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Missions abroad has shifted.
    • During the first wave of the pandemic, focus was on coordinating exports of COVID-19 medicines, flights to repatriate Indians abroad through the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ after the lockdown, and then exporting vaccines worldwide- ‘Vaccine Maitri’.
    • After the second wave, Covid Diplomacy 2.0 has a different order of tasks, both in the immediate and the long term.
    • The immediate imperative was to deal with oxygen and medicine shortages that claimed the lives of thousands.
    • The Ministry of External Affairs has had to deal with internal health concerns while galvanising help from abroad for others.
    • Despite difficulties, the Ministry of External Affairs has completed the task of bringing in supplies in a timely manner, and with success.

    Dealing with vaccine shortage

    • Companies manufacturing AstraZeneca and Sputnik-V are stretched as far as future production is concerned.
    • The Chinese vaccines are out of consideration given bilateral tensions.
    • So, it is clear that India is looking to the U.S. to make up the shortfall.
    • This could be done in the following ways:
    • 1) Requesting the U.S. to share a substantial portion of its stockpile of AstraZeneca.
    • The U.S. government is holding up its AstraZeneca exports until its own United States Food and Drug Administration approves them.
    • 2) Asking the US to release more vaccine ingredients which are restricted for exports.
    • 3) To buy more stock outright from the three U.S. manufacturers, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and to encourage production in India of these vaccines.
    • Production of Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccines in India, as had been announced during the Quad summit, will take some time.
    • The U.S. companies seem set on getting both an indemnity waiver from India as well as Emergency Use Authorisation prior to supplying them.
    • The Government may also need to make a change to its publicly announced policy that States in India will need to negotiate purchases directly, as the U.S. manufacturers want centralised orders, with payments up-front.

    2) Patent waiver

    • The promise of patent waivers, from India’s joint proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not reap early benefits.
    • Even though it has received support from world leaders such as the U.S., Russia and China.
    • Many countries including Japan, Australia, Brazil and EU are still holding out on the idea of freeing up intellectual property rights on vaccines for three years.
    • That could ultimately hold up proceedings at the WTO, as it works by consensus.

    3) Diplomatic fallout of vaccine collapse

    • The Government has defended its decision to export more than 66 million vaccines doses to 95 countries between January and April this year.
    • All exports were stopped as soon as cases in India began to soar.
    • Both India’s neighbours and partners in Africa as well as global agencies depending on India for vaccines have been left in the lurch by the Government’s failure to balance its vaccine budget.
    • For example, once India completed delivery of the first batch, of 550,000 Covishield doses, Bhutan completed the administration of the first dose to 93% of its population in a record 16 days.
    • Two months later, Bhutan does not have any vaccines to complete the second dose and has been left requesting other countries for vaccines.
    • It is no surprise that each of India’s neighbours has now sought help from China and the U.S. to complete their vaccination drives.

    4) Tracing virus pathways

    • India, as one of the worst pandemic-hit countries, must be at the forefront of demanding accountability on the origin of the virus.
    • The World Health Organisation (WHO) which studied “pathways of emergence” of SARS-CoV2 in Wuhan, listed four possibilities:
    • 1) Direct zoonotic transmission.
    • 2) An intermediate host.
    • 3) Cold chain or transmission through food.
    • 4) A laboratory incident.
    • China appears adamant on blocking these studies.
    • Even the U.S. appears to have dragged its feet on a conclusive finding, possibly because the U.S. National Institutes of Health had funded some of the Wuhan Institute’s research.

    Way forward on virus pathways

    • India must call for a more definitive answer and also raise its voice for a stronger convention to regulate any research that could lead, by accident or design, to something as the current pandemic.
    •  It is necessary to revamp the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention to institute an implementation body to assess treaty compliance, and build safer standards for the future.

    Consider the question “How different was the impact of two Covid-19 waves on India’s diplomacy? What are the challenges India faces in the near future in dealing with the fallout of the pandemic?”

    Conclusion

    With its seat at the UN Security Council as non-permanent member and its position on WHO’s Executive Board, India could seek to regain the footing it has lost over the past few months of COVID-19 mismanagement, by taking a lead role in ensuring the world is protected from the next such pandemic.

  • WB Bureaucrat Transfer Issue

    West Bengal CM has announced that the outgoing Chief Secretary would be appointed Chief Advisor to the Chief Minister.

    Story so far

    • A senior IAS officer has been the subject of a tussle between the Centre and the state government over the last few days.
    • He was due to begin an extension of three months after retiring as Chief Secretary, but the Centre instead asked him to report and join the Government of India.
    • He did not do so.

    How officers get an extension?

    • Rule 16(1) of DCRB (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules says that “a member of the Service may be given an extension of service for a period not exceeding three months in the public interest, with the prior approval of the Central Government”.
    • For an officer posted as Chief Secretary of a state, this extension can be for six months.

    Central Deputation

    • In normal practice, the Centre asks every year for an “offer list” of officers of the All India Services willing to go on central deputation.
    • Rule 6(1) of the IAS Cadre Rules says an officer may with the concurrence of the State Governments concerned and the Central Government, be deputed for service under the Central Government or another State Government…”
    • It says “in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Government or State Governments concerned shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government.”

    Issues with such deputation

    • Because of the Rule, states have to bear the brunt of arbitrary actions taken by the Centre, while the Rule makes it difficult for the Centre to enforce its will on a state that refuses to back down.

    What next

    • The Centre cannot take action against civil service officials who are posted under the state government unless the latter agrees.
    • Rule 7 of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, states that the authority to institute proceedings and to impose penalty will be the state government.
    • For any action to be taken against an officer of the All India Services, the state and the Centre both need to agree.

  • Israel and Palestine could take a leaf out of India’s book

    The article suggest the Indian model for peaceful coexistence as a possible solution to Israel-Palestine conflict.

    Brief history of the conflict

    • Britain renounced its Mandate over Palestine in 1948.
    • This paved the way for the United Nations to divide Palestine between the Jews and Arabs, giving them about 55% and 45% of the land, respectively.
    • The Jews, meanwhile, had declared the establishment of the state of Israel for which they had been working for long.
    • The Palestinians, who lacked the resources to conceive of a state, failed to form a state of their own in the land allotted to them.
    • Instead, a coalition of Arab countries invaded the nascent state of Israel to nip it in the bud.
    • Israel defeated the Arab armies.
    • Israel also destroyed about 600 Palestinian villages and expelled about 80% of Arabs from its territory.
    • In 1967, in the Six-Day War, Israel captured not just more Palestinian land but also Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights.
    • During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the Arabs came to realise that Israel is here to stay.

    Need for realisation on both the sides

    • The Arab states failed to impress the realisation of permanency of Israel upon their Palestinian brethren, a sizeable number of whom remain committed to seeking a solution through counter-violence. 
    • Vicious cycle of violence is not going to end unless there is realism on both sides.
    • The Hamas should know that Israel will not give up on holding on to land it has held for years.
    • Israel should understand that total subjugation, expulsion or even decimation of Palestinians will not make it any safer.
    • A solution based on the common humanity of all stakeholders, one that is not riven by racial and religious schisms, needs to be explored.

    Viability of Indian model

    • The Indian model of democracy and secularism, which accommodates religious, ethnic, linguistic and other diversities, could be a viable model for the peaceful coexistence of formerly antagonistic groups.
    •  India evolved a unique model of accommodating the victors and the vanquished, without ever resorting to the latter’s decimation.
    • A modus vivendi has to evolve on the basis of hard realities, the first of which is that neither the Jews nor the Palestinians are going to vanish.
    • If the two-state solution is nowhere in the offing, a single state after the Indian model, i.e., a secular, democratic and pluralistic state, may be the only feasible option.
    • The Palestinian refugees have a right to return.
    • That the altered demographics would impinge on the religio-racial character of Israel is not an argument which behoves a modern democratic state.
    • It is true that a nation state belongs to the group which constituted itself into a nation.
    • A nation is an imagined community.
    • As imagination expands, the foundations of the nation become deeper.

    Consider the question “In the absence of two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, what lessons India could offer to the two parties for peaceful coexistence?”

    Conclusion

    Israel might not offer the right model of conflict resolution for India, but India presents a model of peaceful coexistence for Israel.

  • How Pakistan Plays the world

    The article explains evolution of Pakistan’s approach towards forming alliances and maintaining strategic autonomy against the backdrop of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

    New dynamic Pakistan has to face

    • As the US withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, Pakistan is eager to build a relationship with Washington that is not tied to US stakes in Afghanistan.
    • Pakistan does not want to be totally alienated from U.S. in the new geopolitical jousting between the US and China.
    • How Pakistan copes with the new dynamic between the US and China as well as manages the deepening crisis in Afghanistan would be of great interest to India.

    Striking the balance between autonomy and alliance

    • Autonomy is about the basic impulse for enhancing the degree of one’s freedom.
    • Alliances are about coping with real or perceived threats to one’s security.
    • Both are natural trends in international politics.
    • Joining an alliance does not mean ceding one’s sovereignty.
    • Within every alliance, there is a perennial tension between seeking more commitments from the partner in return for limiting one’s own.

    Explaining Pakistan’s approach to alliances

    • Pakistan’s insecurities in relation to India meant it was eager for alliances.
    •  And as the Anglo-Americans scouted for partners in the crusade against global communism, Pakistan signed a bilateral security treaty with the US and joined the South East Asia Treaty Organisation and Central Treaty Organisation in the mid-1950s.
    • Rather than target Pakistan’s alliance with a West that was intensely hostile to Beijing in the 1950s, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai saw room to exploit Pakistan’s insecurities on India.
    • While Pakistan’s ties with the US went up and down, its relationship with China has seen steady expansion.
    • Pakistan’s relations with the US flourished  after the Soviet Union sent its troops into Afghanistan at the end of 1979.
    • The US and Pakistan reconnected in 2001 as Washington sought physical access and intelligence support to sustain its intervention in Afghanistan following the attacks on September 11.
    • Now the US wants Pakistan to persuade the Taliban to accept a peaceful transition to a new political order in Afghanistan.

    Pakistan’s ability to adapt to shifting geopolitical trends

    • Pakistan worries that its leverage in U.S. will diminish once the US turns its back on Afghanistan and towards the Indo-Pacific.
    • Pakistan does not want to get in the Indo-Pacific crossfire between the US and China.
    • It would also like to dent India’s growing importance in America’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
    • India should not underestimate Pakistan’s agency in adapting to the shifting global currents.
    • Pakistan has been good at using its great power alliances to its own benefit.

    Three problems that complicates Pakistan’s strategic autonomy

    • 1) Relative economic decline: Pakistan’s expected aggregate GDP at around $300 billion in 2021 is 10 times smaller than India’s.
    • 2) Obsession with Kashmir: Pakistan’s enduring obsessions with separating Kashmir from India, and extending its political sway over Afghanistan; both look elusive despite massive political investments by the Pakistan army.
    • Unsurprisingly, there is a recognition that Pakistan needs reorientation — from geopolitics to geoeconomics and permanent war with neighbours to peace of some sorts.
    • 3) Using religion as political instrument: Turning Islam into a political instrument and empowering religious extremism seemed clever a few decades ago.
    • However, today those forces have acquired a life of their own and severely constrain the capacity of the Pakistani state to build internal coherence and widen international options.

    Conclusion

    It will be unwise to rule out Pakistan’s positive reinvention; no country has a bigger stake in it than India. For now, though, Pakistan offers a cautionary tale on the dangers of squandering a nation’s strategic advantages — including a critical geopolitical location that it had inherited and the powerful partnerships that came its way.