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GS Paper: GS2

  • Unfurling India’s foreign policy concerns

    The article analyses two major concerns of India which would be influenced by the policies adopted by the next U.S. President. 

    Concern for India

    • What policy President-elect Joe Biden will adopt in its foreign policy will has bearing on India.
    • There are two foreign policy issues which are of great concern and interest — China and Iran in that order.
    • For the world, the equation between the United States and China may be the relationship of the greatest consequence.
    • For India, the most consequential relationship is not with the U.S. — as is sometimes claimed — but one with China.
    • What happens in greater West Asia will always remain of concern, but those interests will not be affected one way or the other by who is the President of the U.S.

    Quad dynamics and China

    • In the Trump years, India signed all the ‘foundational’ agreements with America.
    • India also bought billions of dollars worth of military hardware from them.
    • India resisted converting the Quad into a primarily military or strategic grouping, and is in fact aimed solely at containing China.
    • The Quad is an anti-China coalition.
    • How far it can be successful in containing the Dragon remains to be seen.
    • India’s External Affairs Minister has stated, India will not join any military alliance.
    • However, given the fact that all the other three, and perhaps five or six in future, are already in strategic alliance with one another and with the U.S., it is highly likely that India too will be forced to agree to some form of military alliance at a future date.
    • But no external power would want to get involved on our side in case of major hostilities with China.
    • On the other hand, if there is a major skirmish or worse in the South China Sea, the other members of the Quad will expect us to join them in fighting China, in an area far removed from our shores.

    Approach towards China

    • If Mr. Biden adopts a more conciliatory approach towards China, India may find ourselves in a difficult situation.
    • We do not want China to be permanently hostile to us; it will absorb huge resources, human and material.
    • The strong rhetoric employed in relation to China will need to be tempered.
    • Public opinion which has been worked up against China may make it difficult to do so immediately but the government is efficient in managing and moulding public opinion.

    Approach toward Iran

    • It may be difficult for Mr. Biden to quickly reverse Mr. Trump’s adventurist policy towards Iran.
    • It may not be possible for him given the domestic compulsions, to readopt JCPOA in its original form.
    • But he will surely, if slowly, engage Tehran in talks and negotiations through Oman or some other intermediary, to reduce tensions in the region.
    • India may be able to buy Iranian oil, and sell our pharma and other goods to that country.
    • The government may also feel less constrained in investing openly in oil and other infra projects in Iran, including the rail project in which Indian Railways Construction Ltd has been interested.

    Conclusion

    While India can’t expect the reversal of all Trump era policies, there will be certain changes in the stance adopted by the new U.S. President and India should be prepared to deal with it.

  • 15th Finance Commission submits report to President

    The 15th Finance Commission, chaired by NK Singh, on Monday submitted its final report for 2021-22 to 2025-26 to the President.

    Try this PYQ:

    With reference to the Finance Commission of India, which of the following statements is correct?

    (a) It encourages the inflow of foreign capital for infrastructure development

    (b) It facilitates the proper distribution of finances among the Public Sector Undertakings

    (c) It ensures transparency in financial administration

    (d) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct in this context

    Key recommendations that would feature in its final report:

    • A separate defence and national security: The viability of creating a separate defence and national security fund as suggested by the Centre.
      • States would keenly await these recommendations as it may translate into a lower share of funds for them.
    • GST compensation dues to States: The panel is also expected to factor in unpaid GST compensation dues to States for this year, while working out State’s revenue flow calculations for the years beyond 2022.

    Formula that decides a State’s share:

    Weight in 15th FC Parameters Weight in 14th FC
    15 (2011 Census) Population 27.5 (17.5 – 1972, 10 – 2011 Census)
    15 Area 15
    10 Forest and Ecology 7.5
    45 Income Distance 50
    12.5 Demographic Performance –
    2.5 Tax Effort

    What is the Finance Commission?

    • The Finance Commission (FC) was established by the President of India in 1951 under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution.
    • It was formed to define the financial relations between the central government of India and the individual state governments.
    • The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951 additionally defines the terms of qualification, appointment and disqualification, the term, eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission.
    • As per the Constitution, the FC is appointed every five years and consists of a chairman and four other members.
    • Since the institution of the First FC, stark changes in the macroeconomic situation of the Indian economy have led to major changes in the FC’s recommendations over the years.

    Constitutional Provisions

    Several provisions to bridge the fiscal gap between the Centre and the States were already enshrined in the Constitution of India, including Article 268, which facilitates levy of duties by the Centre but equips the States to collect and retain the same.

    Article 280 of the Indian Constitution defines the scope of the commission:

    1. The President will constitute a finance commission within two years from the commencement of the Constitution and thereafter at the end of every fifth year or earlier, as the deemed necessary by him/her, which shall include a chairman and four other members.
    2. Parliament may by law determine the requisite qualifications for appointment as members of the commission and the procedure of selection.
    3. The commission is constituted to make recommendations to the president about the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Union and States and also the allocation of the same among the States themselves. It is also under the ambit of the finance commission to define the financial relations between the Union and the States. They also deal with the devolution of unplanned revenue resources.

    Why need the Finance Commission?

    • As a federal nation, India suffers from both vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalances.
    • Vertical imbalances between the central and state governments result from states incurring expenditures disproportionate to their sources of revenue, in the process of fulfilling their responsibilities.
    • However, states are better able to gauge the needs and concerns of their inhabitants and therefore more efficient at addressing them.
    • Horizontal imbalances among state governments result from differing historical backgrounds or resource endowments and can widen over time.
    • The first FC was established in 1951 by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the then-incumbent law minister, to address these imbalances.

    Important functions

    • Distribution of net proceeds of taxes between Center and the States, to be divided as per their respective contributions to the taxes.
    • Determine factors governing Grants-in-Aid to the states and the magnitude of the same.
    • To make recommendations to the president as to the measures needed to augment the Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the panchayats and municipalities in the state on the basis of the recommendations made by the finance commission of the state.
    • Any other matter related to it by the president in the interest of sound finance.

    Members of the Finance Commission

    • The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951 was passed to give a structured format to the finance commission and to bring it to par with world standards.
    • It laid down rules for the qualification and disqualification of members of the commission, and for their appointment, term, eligibility and powers.
    • The Chairman of a finance commission is selected from people with experience of public affairs. The other four members are selected from people who:
    1. Are, or have been, or are qualified, as judges of a high court,
    2. Have knowledge of government finances or accounts, or
    3. Have had experience in administration and financial expertise; or
    4. Have special knowledge of economics

  • How a Biden’s Presidency may affect India?

    Donald Trump’s rise to the White House as well as his exit has led to a wide reactionary response in India.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] India US relations in the backdrop of recent hiccups

    (1) Economic Impact

    Trade

    • There are several ways in which the US economy, its health and the policy choices of its government affect India.
    • For one, the US is one of those rare big countries with which India enjoys a trade surplus. In other words, we export more goods to the US than what we import from it.
    • The trade surplus has widened from $5.2 billion in 2001-02 to $17.3 billion in 2019-20.
    • Under a Biden administration, India’s trade with the US could recover from the dip since 2017-18.

    FDI and FPI

    • The US is the fifth-biggest source for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India. Of the total $476 billion FDI that has come in since April 2000, the US accounted for $30.4 billion — roughly 6.5 per cent — directly.
    • Only Mauritius, Singapore, Netherlands, and Japan have invested more FDI since 2000.
    • Apart from FDI the US also accounts for one-third of all Foreign Portfolio Investments (that is, investment in financial assets) into India.

    Ending protectionism

    • A Biden presidency may also see a renewed push towards a rules-based trading system across the world.
    • Instead of outright ad-hocism as was the case under Trump — as well as a move away from the protectionist approach that has been getting strong across the world.

    (2) Visa

    • For instance, how a US President looks at the H1-B visa issue, affects the prospects of Indian youth far more than the youth of any other country.
    • Under Trump, who severely curtailed the visa regime, thanks to his policy of “America First”, India had suffered the most.
    • That could change under Biden, who is unlikely to view immigrants and workers from India with Trump-like suspicion.

    (3) Technology

    • Other points of contention between India and the US are the tricky issue of data localisation or capping prices of medicines and medical devices.
    • These have a better chance of getting towards a resolution as we move away from the radical approach of President Trump to the pragmatism of a Biden presidency.

    (4) Diplomacy

    • Further, under the Trump administration, the US sanctions on Iran severely limited India’s sourcing of cheap crude oil.
    • For an economy such as India, which needs a regular supply of cheap oil to grow fast, a normalization of US-Iran relationship (and lifting of sanctions) would be more than useful.
    • On China, too, while the US apprehensions are unlikely to be fewer. It is more likely that a Biden administration will help India against China, instead of clubbing the two together.

    (5) Climate Action

    • Biden has promised to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, and this may help countries such as India in dealing with the massive challenges — both technical and financial — on this front.

  • [pib] Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

    PM will inaugurate the office cum residential complex of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) at Cuttack in Odisha.

    Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

    • Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, also known as ITAT, is an important statutory body in the field of direct taxes and its orders are accepted as final, on findings of fact.
    • ITAT was the first Tribunal to be created on 25th January, 1941 and is also known as ‘Mother Tribunal’.
    • Starting with three benches, at Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta it has now grown to 63 Benches and two circuit benches spread across thirty cities of India.
    • With a view to ensuring highest degree of independence of the ITAT, it functions under the Department of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Law and Justice and is kept away from any kind of control by the Ministry of Finance.

    Did you notice this?

    ITAT was the very first tribunal constituted in India! And it functions under the Ministry of Law and Justice and not the obvious looking Ministry of Finance.

    It’s Functioning

    • It is the second appellate authority under the direct taxes and first independent forum in its appellate hierarchy.
    • The orders passed by the ITAT can be subjected to appellate challenge, on substantial questions of law, before the respective High Court.
    • Monetary limit for deciding an appeal by a single member Bench of ITAT enhanced from ₹15 lakh to ₹50 lakh in 2016 Union Budget.

  • India-Maldives relations

    The Soleh government’s ‘India First Policy’ provides respite to India when contrasted with the approach of the predecessors.

    India-Maldives relations

    • India and the Maldives have had bilateral relations for centuries.
    • Maldivian students attend educational institutions in India.
    • Patients from the Maldives come here for super speciality healthcare.
    •  A liberal visa-free regime extended by India has aided the patients.
    • The Maldives is now a major tourist destination for some Indians and a job destination for others.
    • Given the geographical limitations imposed on the Maldives, India has exempted the nation from export curbs on essential commodities.

    Assistance to the Maldives

    • In 1988, under Operation Cactus when a coup was attempted against President, India sent paratroopers and Navy vessels and restored the legitimate leadership.
    • The 2004 tsunami and the drinking water crisis in Male a decade later were other occasions when India rushed assistance.
    • In COVID-19 disruption, India rushed $250 million aid in quick time and also rushed medical supplies to the Maldives, started a new cargo ferry and also opened an air travel bubble, the first such in South Asia.

    Strategic comfort to India

    • Abdulla Yameen was President when the water crisis occurred.
    • Now, the Yameen camp has launched an ‘India Out’ campaign against New Delhi’s massive developmental funding.
    • Maldivian protesters recently demanded the Solih administration to ‘stop selling national assets to foreigners’, implying India.
    • Mr. Yameen’s tilt towards China and bias against India when in power was evident.
    • It is against this background that the Solih administration’s no-nonsense approach towards trilateral equations provide ‘strategic comfort’ to India.

    Concerns for India

    • India should be concerned about the protests as well as the occasional protest within the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of Mr. Solih.
    • There are apparent strains between Mohamed Nasheed, who was the nation’s first President elected under a multiparty democracy and Mr. Yameen.
    • This strain could affect the MDP during the run-up to the 2023 presidential polls.
    • Also, Mr. Nasheed’s on-again-off-again call for a changeover to a ‘parliamentary form of government’ can polarise the overpoliticised nation even more.

    Conclusion

    Given this background and India’s increasing geostrategic concerns in the shared seas, taking forward the multifaceted cooperation to the next stage quickly could also be at the focus of relations of the two countries.

  • Comparing the mandates of election commissions of India and the U.S.

    In the recently concluded presidential election in the U.S., the delay in announcing the result and issue of denial of the election results by the incumbent has brought into focus the role played by flaws in the Americal democratic system in the conduct of the election. This article compares the powers of the elections bodies in the U.S. and India.

    Powers of ECI

    • Indian Constitution has given the ECI enormous power to be exercised during the course of elections, and strictly on other election-related matters.
    • By virtue of being the custodian of the electoral roll, all matters related to keeping the roll updated, fall under the ECI’s domain.
    • Even the higher judiciary does not interfere during the course of the election process.
    • Our Constitution’s fathers decided to limit the role of the judiciary in India to the post-election period, when election petitions may be filed.
    • This was done to avoid the impeding of the election process and delay election results interminably.

    Comparing the powers

    • The U.S. Federal Election Commission has a much narrower mandate than its Indian equivalent-Election Commission of India.
    • The Federal Election Commission was established comparatively recently — 1975, with the special mandate to regulate campaign finance issues.
    • As a watchdog, it is meant to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the law regarding campaign contributions, and oversee public funding of the presidential election.
    • The Federal Election Commission is led by six Commissioners.
    • These six posts are supposed to be equally shared by Democrats and Republicans, and too have to be confirmed by the Senate.
    • This leads to decision making divided on partisan lines.

    What India can learn From the election process in the U.S.

    • In the 2016 U.S. election, almost a quarter of the votes counted arose from postal and early balloting.
    • In India we have confined postal ballots to only a few categories, of largely government staff (for example those on election duty) as well as the police or armed forces.
    • In these difficult times of the novel coronavirus pandemic, we need to widen this base to include all senior citizens and anyone else who may find it convenient to cast their vote early.

    Consider the question “Powers of the Election Commission of India are wider when compared with its counterpart in the U.S. In light of this, compare the powers of the two bodies and how these wide powers have enabled smooth power transfers in India.” 

    Conclusion

    In its functioning, Election Commission of India has broad powers as compared to its counterpart in the U.S. which has helped India see a smooth power transfer from the first election in India in 1951-52 and every single election since.

  • Chabahar Rail Project

    An Iranian diplomat in an interview has said that Tehran now hopes that New Delhi will help facilitate equipment for the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line under a line of credit promised to it in 2018.

    Try this question

    Q. Discuss the strategic and economic significance of Chabahar Port and Rail Project for India.

    Recent controversy

    • The Iranian government in July had decided to proceed with the construction of this project on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.

    The Chabahar Rail Project

    • It is a 628 km Chabahar-Zahedan line, which will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan.
    • The entire project would be completed by March 2022.
    • It was meant to be part of India’s commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

    Why did Iran omit India from the project?

    • Despite several site visits by engineers, and preparations by Iranian railways, India never began the work, ostensibly due to worries that these could attract U.S. sanctions.
    • The U.S. had provided a sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port and the rail line to Zahedan, but it has been difficult to find equipment suppliers and partners due to worries they could be targeted by the U.S.
    • India has already “zeroed out” its oil imports from Iran due to U.S. sanctions.

    India’s reluctance with Iran

    • Looking at the whole aspects of relations, when it comes to politics, there has been a great common understanding and shared interests.
    • But when it comes to economic and trade relations, it has been subject to some limits and restrictions, which are hampered by the various sanctions imposed.
    • The US had put pressure directly or indirectly on the relations, although that has not been the will of both sides.

    The contentious partnership with China

    • Iran and China are close to finalising a 25-year Strategic Partnership which will include Chinese involvement in Chabahar’s duty-free zone, an oil refinery nearby, and possibly a larger role in Chabahar port as well.
    • The cooperation will extend from investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and upgrading energy and transport facilities, to refurbishing ports, refineries and other installations.
    • It is also rumoured that the Chabahar port will be leased to China surpassing India.
    • Iran had proposed a tie-up between the port at Gwadar and Chabahar last year and has offered interests to China in the Bandar-e-Jask port 350km away from Chabahar, as well as in the Chabahar duty-free zone.

    Back2Basics: India-Iran Partnership over Chabahar Port

    • In 2016, India signed a deal with Iran entailing $8 billion investment in Chabahar port and industries in Chabahar Special Economic Zone.
    • The port is being developed as a transit route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
    • India has already built a 240-km road connecting Afghanistan with Iran.
    • All this were expected to bring cargo to Bandar Abbas port and Chabahar port, and free Kabul from its dependence on Pakistan to reach the outer world.
    • Completion of this project would give India access to Afghanistan and beyond to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe via 7,200-km-long multi-modal North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

  • UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)

    In a significant victory for India at the United Nations, Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra was elected to the U.N. Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

    Try this PYQ:

    Which one of the following is not related to the United Nations?
    (a) Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
    (b) International Finance Corporation
    (c) International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
    (d) Bank for International Settlements

    About UN- ACABQ

    • It is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. The 193-member Assembly appoints members of the Advisory Committee.
    • ACABQ consists of 16 members appointed by the Assembly in their individual capacity.
    • Members are selected on the basis of broad geographical representation, personal qualifications and experience.

    Its functions

    • ACABQ ensures that fund contributions to the U.N. system are put to good effect and that mandates are properly funded.
    • It examines, on behalf of the General Assembly, the administrative budgets of the specialised agencies and proposals for financial arrangements with such agencies; and to consider and report to the General Assembly on the auditors’ reports on the accounts of the UN and of the specialised agencies.

    Why is the seat given to India?

    • India has a stellar record of bringing professional auditing experience to the U.N. and contributing outstanding professionals to U.N. bodies.
    • With India’s rising obligations in both assessed as well as voluntary contributions to the U.N., India holds key responsibility of administrative and budgetary management of U.N.

    Significance of the move

    • The victory gives a strong display of support by U.N. member states for India.
    • It comes as India gets ready to sit in the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning January 2021.

  • Taxes and the fundamental rights

    The article deals with the issue of a petition challenging the imposition of 5% GST on mobility aids used by disabled citizens.

    Background

    • The petitioner, in Nipun Malhotra vs. Union of India, argued in Supreme Court that the tax imposed on mobility aids used by disabled citizenswas patently discriminatory.
    • A decision to impose a tax, the Court said, was a matter of policy over which the judiciary ought not to ordinarily interfere.
    • In adjourning the case, it suggested that the petitioner exhaust his options by submitting his grievances to the GST Council, which is the governing body responsible for determining which products are taxed, and at what rate.

    Should the Courts test the legitimacy of the tax

    • It might be keen to ensure that the judiciary does not sit on judgment over matters that fall within the domain of legislative and executive competence.
    • There is nothing inherently distinct about taxing laws; they are in no way plenary and unamenable to judicial review.
    • Quite to the contrary, taxes have a direct bearing on how society is arranged.
    • The nature and rate of tax imposed on a product can impinge both on a person’s freedom and on a person’s right to be treated with equal care and concern.
    • Therefore, it ought to be well within an independent judiciary’s province — as the top courts in Canada and Colombia, among others, have recently held — to examine whether or not an imposition of a tax violates a fundamental right.

    Why government impose tax on mobility aids?

    • Until the advent of the GST, mobility aids were almost entirely immune from indirect taxes.
    • In virtually every State, exemptions were granted on the payment of value-added-tax on such goods.
    • However, under GST 18% tax was imposed on these devices and subsequently reduced to 5%.
    • The government claims that it cannot relieve mobility aids from taxation, because to do so will disincentivise domestic manufacturers.
    • Domestic manufacturers can claim “input tax credit” on taxes paid on raw material in the process of manufacturing when it remits the levy collected from the eventual purchaser of the product.
    •  The State’s argument is that in the absence of a levy of GST on the final product, the manufacturer will be burdened with input taxes.
    • Since it cannot claim any credit for those taxes paid, the prices of the final product would have to be concomitantly higher.
    • As a result, the manufacturer will be placed in a relative position of disadvantage to foreign makers.

    Issues with the government’s argument

    • This argument, though, suffers from at least two fallacies. First, a reading of the various notifications issued by the GST Council shows that many other products that are essential to human needs are exempt from tax.
    • Second, that the grant of an exemption in cases such as these would disentitle manufacturers from claiming input tax credit is a matter of legislative design.

    Way forward

    • Parliament can find other ways to ensure that domestic manufacturers are granted credit for the taxes that they pay on inputs.
    • A decision taken on exempting goods from taxation is a matter of classification.
    •  Given that the classification rests on a state of disability, it must be seen, on any sensible consideration of our equality jurisprudence, as, at least facially, inequitable.
    • The onus must, therefore, rest on the government to show the Court that it had cogent reasons for treating these goods as distinct from other commodities that are exempt from tax.
    • A failure to discharge this onus ought to render the levy illegitimate.
    • The GST Council can take a leaf out of the books of Canada and Australia, and grant a complete exemption on the levy imposed on mobility aids.

    Conclusion

    It is time we recognised that an unreasonable levy can deeply compromise fundamental human needs. To free taxing statutes from the ramparts of the Constitution is to risk the entrenching of inequality.

  • Sharing Indo-Pacific vision in the region

     Where do we geographically place the Indo-Pacific?

    • Term “Indo-Pacific” has come into prominence in the past decade.
    • India has used it in joint statements with a series of partner countries, including but not limited to the United States, Australia, France, Indonesia, Japan, and of course the United Kingdom.
    • It figures in meetings with our ASEAN and has helped advance the Quad consultations.
    • Indian Foreign Ministry has recently set up an Indo-Pacific Division as well as an Oceania Division a sign of India’s commitment to this critical geography.
    • This has encouraged other countries to perceive and define the region in its full extent.
    • For India, the Indo-Pacific is that vast maritime space stretching from the western coast of North America to the eastern shores of Africa.
    • Today, more and more countries are aligning their definition of the Indo-Pacific with Indias.

    Historical background

    • During the Cold War, the Indo-Pacific was divided into different spheres of influence and military theatres.
    • Whether it was the monsoon winds– or our maritime and trading history, we found it impossible to see the Horn of Africa and the Straits of Malacca on the other as disconnected.
    • The first for this is that the Indian peninsula, which thrusts into the Indian Ocean and gives us two magnificent coasts and near limitless maritime horizons to both our east and our west.
    • Monks and merchants, culture and cargo have travelled from India on those waters, to our east, west and south.
    • India’s great religious traditions, such as Buddhism, spread far and wide in the Indo-Pacific.
    • These experiences are our past and are our future; these experiences determine our concept of the Indo-Pacific.

    Why is the Indo-Pacific crucial?

    • The interconnectedness of the Indo-Pacific is finally coming into full play.
    • A motivating factor is the region’s emergence as a driver of international trade and well-being.
    • The Indo-Pacific ocean system carries an estimated 65 per cent of world trade and contributes 60 per cent of global GDP.
    • Ninety per cent of India’s international trade travels on its waters.
    • For us, and for many others, the shift in the economic trajectory from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific has been hugely consequential.
    • The rise of China and the imperative for a global rebalancing have added to the mix.
    • A rules-based international order is achievable only with a rules-based Indo-Pacific.

    India’s Indo-Pacific strategy

    • India’s Indo-Pacific strategy was enunciated in 2018 as the SAGAR doctrine.
    •  SAGAR is an acronym for “Security and Growth for All in the Region”.
    • This aspiration depends on securing end-to-end supply chains in the region; no disproportionate dependence on a single country; and ensuring prosperity for all stakeholder nations.
    • An Indo-Pacific guided by norms and governed by rules, with freedom of navigation, open connectivity, and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states, is an article of faith for India.
    • Using this Initiative, India plans to support the building of a rules-based regional architecture resting on seven pillars. These are:1) Maritime security
      2) Maritime ecology
      3) Maritime resources
      4) Capacity building and resource sharing
      5) Disaster risk reduction and management
      6) Science, technology and academic cooperation
      7) Trade connectivity and maritime transport
    • We have sought to strengthen security and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific by becoming a net security provider – in the Gulf of Aden.
    • Sharing what we can, in equipment, training and exercises, we have built relationships with partner countries across the region.
    • In the past six years, India has provided coastal surveillance radar systems to half a dozen nations – Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
    • All of these countries also use Indian patrol boats, as do Mozambique and Tanzania.
    •  Mobile training teams have been deputed to 11 countries.
    • Located just outside New Delhi, the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region has enhanced maritime domain awareness among partner countries.
    • India has also promoted and contributed to infrastructure, connectivity, economic projects and supply chains in the region.

    Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief

    • Notable humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions in the Indo-Pacific in recent years have included Operation Rahat in Yemen in 2015.
    • Whether it was the cyclone in Sri Lanka in 2016 or deaths and large-scale displacement of people that occurred in Madagascar in January this year, Indian assistance and an Indian ship have never been far away.
    • The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)is intrinsic to India’s regional and global commitment to taking on climate change.

    Conclusion

    Whatever the navigation map, the fact that the Indo-Pacific is the 21st century’s locus of political and security concerns and competition, of growth and development, and of technology incubation and innovation is indisputable.