💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (July Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

GS Paper: GS2

  • Resistance to China is going to be definitive moment for India

    How India overcomes the challenge posed by China would have far-reaching effects. Role of Russia and the U.S. is important for India. This article discusses these factors and the significance of the outcome of the conflict started at Galwan. 

    Two takes on India’s China policy

    • Following Galwan encounter, there are two views about the future of India’s China policy.
    • Some say that structural constraints would limit dramatic changes in policy once the heat of the moment dissipates.
    • While others say that the Galwan clash comes amidst the deepening crisis in bilateral relations over the last decade.
    • Stalled boundary talks, a widening trade deficit, the clash of national interests in the region, and Chinese opposition to India’s global aspirations have together strained Sino-Indian relations.
    • Galwan is the last straw, the argument goes, that broke the camel’s back.

    So, what will be the outcome

    •  The relationship is likely to depend on how the current military confrontation in Ladakh is resolved.
    • If it ends with a quick return to the status quo that prevailed in April, inertia is likely to limit radical policy departures.
    • If the Ladakh crisis ends in a setback for India, the pressure on Delhi to radically reorient its China policy will mount.

    What if the standoff continues?

    • In that case strengthening India’s military and political hand against China is the immediate objective of Delhi’s post-Galwan diplomacy.
    • The long term steps suggested include the construction of a military alliance with the US and other Western partner.
    • As as well as economic decoupling and diversification.
    • Short term steps are about being able to stare down the Chinese in the current military confrontation and hold its ground.

    Role of Russia

    • Three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, India’s dependence on Russian arms remains substantive.
    • Rajnath Singh’s visit to Moscow amidst the crisis with China underlines the weight of the past in India’s security policy.
    • India is also pressing other major defence suppliers, including France and Israel, to accelerate deliveries on contracted defence equipment.
    • There have been reports from Russia, that China is pressing Moscow not to sell the new fighter aircraft to India.
    • Russia and China are strong strategic partners today.
    • While the past suggests India has a special claim to Russian affections, there is a Sino-Russian strategic cohabitation today in opposition to America
    • How Russia responds to India’s request will have a major bearing on the future evolution of Delhi’s ties with Moscow.

    Role of the U.S.

    • Unlike Russia’s public stance of neutrality between India and China, Washington has come out in favour of Delhi.
    • There was vocal public support of the US defence and foreign policy establishment against Chinese aggression at Galwan.
    •  Media reports from Delhi say the US is already supplying valuable real-time military intelligence of value to the Indian armed forces.
    • Washington is apparently willing to do more but is letting Delhi decide the pace and intensity of that cooperation.

    Challenges in the U.S. cooperation

    • The uncertain political moment in the US amidst the general election scheduled for early November can’t be underestimated.
    • A change of guard in Washington will certainly slow things down as the new administration settles down and reviews its priorities.
    • America’s stakes in China are far higher than Russia’s.
    • Profound economic interdependence of the U.S. and China is a significant political constraint on the US’s options.
    • On deeper military cooperation with Washington, Delhi would want to move with care rather than rush into it as it did in 1962.

    How will outcomes of the crisis matter for India

    • If Delhi comes out of this crisis wounded, its troubles at home and the world will mount significantly.
    • A weakened India will find recasting its China policy even harder.
    • But victorious India will find its international political stock rising and its options on China expanding.
    •  Successful Indian resistance to China’s expansionism would be a definitive moment in the geopolitical evolution of Asia.
    • The stakes for India and the world, then, are far higher today than in 1962.

    Consider the question “Examine the issues that introduce friction in India-China relations. Also, elaborate on the scope of India’s alliance with the U.S to counter the challenges posed by China.”

    Conclusion

    Outcomes of the resistance will have a profound impact on India’s standing and India’s destiny.

  • What is the STARS Project?

    The World Bank has approved a $500 million Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program (STARS) to improve the quality and governance of school education in six Indian states.

    Try this question:

    Q. The STARS Project recently seen in news is an initiative of:

    World Bank/ Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation / UNECOSOC/ UNICEF

    STARS Project

    • The STARS project will be implemented through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the flagship central scheme.
    • The six states include- Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.
    • It will help improve learning assessment systems, strengthen classroom instruction and remediation, facilitate school-to-work transition, and strengthen governance and decentralized management,
    • Some 250 million students (between the age of 6 and 17) in 1.5 million schools and over 10 million teachers will benefit from the STARS program.
    • STARS will support India’s renewed focus on addressing the ‘learning outcome’ challenge and help students better prepare for the jobs of the future – through a series of reform initiatives.

    Reform initiatives under STARS

    • Focusing more directly on the delivery of education services at the state, district and sub-district levels by providing customized local-level solutions towards school improvement.
    • Addressing demands from stakeholders, especially parents, for greater accountability and inclusion by producing better data to assess the quality of learning.
    • Equipping teachers to manage this transformation by recognizing that teachers are central to achieving better learning outcomes. The program will support individualized, needs-based training for teachers that will give them an opportunity to have a say in shaping training programs and making them relevant to their teaching needs.
    • Investing more in developing India’s human capital needs by strengthening foundational learning for children in classes 1 to 3 and preparing them with the cognitive, socio-behavioural and language skills to meet future labour market needs.

    Issues with the project

    • First, it fails to address the basic capacity issues: major vacancies across the education system from District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), district and block education offices, to teachers in schools, remain unaddressed.
    • Without capable and motivated faculty, teacher education and training cannot be expected to improve.
    • Second, the Bank ignores that decentralizing decision-making requires the devolution of funds and real decision-making power.
    • Greater decentralisation can allow accountability to flow to the people rather than to supervising officers.
    • It requires not just investment in the capacity of the front-line bureaucracy but also in increasing their discretionary powers while fostering social accountability.

  • Making sense of moves of China

    The role played by intelligence and emphasis on Summit diplomacy in relation with China are the two issues discussed in this article. So, what went wrong in Galwan incident from the intelligence point of view? And what are the perils of Summit diplomacy? Read to know...

    Galwan-New and fractious phase

    • What occurred in the Galwan heights on June 15, must not be viewed as an aberration.
    • It would be more judicious to view it as signifying a new and fractious phase in China-India relations.
    • Even if the situation reverts to what existed in mid-April India-China relations appear set to witness a “new and different normal”.
    • China’s reaction has been consistent — India must move out of Galwan.
    • This is something that India cannot ignore any longer.
    • Galwan incident cannot be viewed as a mere replay of what took place in Depsang (2013), Chumar (2014) and Doklam (2017).
    • This is a new and different situation and India must not shrink from addressing the core issue that relations between India and China are in a perilous state.

    Close and careful analysis of China’s claim is necessary

    • China’s assertion of its claim to the whole of the Galwan Valley needs close and careful analysis for following reasons-
    • 1) Point 14 gives China a virtual stranglehold over the newly completed, and strategically significant, Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie Road, which leads on to the Karakoram Pass.
    • 2) The strategic implications for India of China’s insistence on keeping the whole of the Galwan Valley are serious as it fundamentally changes the status quo.
    • 3) By laying claim to the Galwan Valley, China has reopened some of the issues left over from the 1962 conflict.
    • And this demonstrates that it is willing to embark on a new confrontation.

    LAC and claim line of China

    • Ambiguity has existed regarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in this sector.
    • The Chinese “claim line” is that of November 1959.
    • For India the LAC is that of September 1962.
    • In recent years, both sides had refrained from reopening the issue, but China has never given up its claims.
    • By its unilateral declaration now, China is seeking to settle the matter in its favour. India needs to measure up to this challenge.

    Importance of Aksai Chin

    • The importance of Aksai Chin for China has greatly increased of late, as it provides direct connectivity between two of the most troubled regions of China, viz., Xinjiang and Tibet.
    • This does not seem to have been adequately factored in our calculations.
    • While Indian policymakers saw the reclassification of Ladakh as purely an internal matter.
    • They overlooked the fact that for China’s military planners it posited a threat to China’s peace and tranquillity.

    Intelligence capabilities

    • Admittedly, the timing and nature of China’s actions should have aroused keen interest in intelligence circles about China’s strategic calculations.
    • The Chinese build-up in the Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and Hotsprings-Gogra did not require any great intelligence effort, since there was little attempt at concealment by the Chinese.
    • India also possesses high-quality imagery intelligence (IMINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities.
    • These capabilities are distributed between the National Technical Research Organisation, the Directorate of Signals Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence and other agencies.
    • Which made it possible to track Chinese movement.
    • Where intelligence can be faulted is with regard to inadequate appreciation of what the build-up meant, and what it portended for India.
    • This is indicative of a weakness in interpretation and analysis of the intelligence available.
    • And also of inability to provide a coherent assessment of China’s real intentions.
    • Intelligence assessment of China’s intentions, clearly fell short of what was required.
    • While India’s technological capabilities for intelligence collection have vastly increased in recent years, the capacity for interpretation and analysis has not kept pace with this.
    • Advances in technology, specially Artificial Intelligence have, across the world, greatly augmented efforts at intelligence analysis.

    Who has the responsibility of intelligence assessment and analysis

    • The principal responsibility for intelligence assessment and analysis concerning China, rests with the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
    • To a lesser extent, it remains with the Defence Intelligence Agency.
    • The decision of the NSCS to dismantle the Joint Intelligence Committee has contributed to a weakening of the intelligence assessment system.
    • In the case of the R&AW, lack of domain expertise, and an inadequacy of China specialists might also have been a contributory factor.

    Adverse impact of certain policy measures

    •  The preference given recently to Summit diplomacy over traditional foreign policy making structures proved to be a severe handicap.
    • Summit diplomacy cannot be a substitute for carefully structured foreign office policy making.
    • Currently, India’s Summit diplomacy has tended to marginalise the External Affairs Ministry with regard to policy making, and we are probably paying a price for it.
    • As it is, the Ministry of External Affairs’s (MEA) stock of China experts seems to be dwindling.
    • And MEA’s general tilt towards the U.S. in most matters, has resulted in an imbalance in the way the MEA perceives problems and situations.

    Conclusion

    Along with the other factors, India should also focus on intelligence analysis and interpretation and make sure there are enough China experts in the MEA.

  • Reimagining South Asian boundaries

    State-centric politics is the issue that plagues the regional cooperation in the region. But the consequences for the lives, livelihoods and the well-being of the people located at the edges of nation-states are overlooked. This issue is discussed in this article.

    State plays central role in disputes

    • One of the major problems of South Asian politics is that it has to flow from within a state-centric paradigm.
    • This state-centrism has given the state structure the propriety to be the sole arbiter of disputes.
    • It is the state that articulates, defines, and represents “national” interests in negotiations with other states.
    • States in South Asia places importance on political boundaries as the “natural” shield even in the arbitration of South Asian affairs.
    • This approach happens to be the dominant South Asian pattern.
    • In this approach territorial boundaries are valued more than lives, livelihoods and the well-being of the people located at the edges of nation states.
    • “Patriotism” looms large as and when inter-state relationships are viewed through the statist lens.
    •  Hostility, real or imagined, is used as the governing principle in the arbitration of territorial disputes across South Asia.

    Lack of regional identity

    • Basically, the term “region” seems to be a contested idea in a South Asian context.
    • This is because none of the South Asian states has ever recognised and respected the idea of regional identity or regional politics.
    • They have been wary of such natural division in politics.
    • Given that this is a reality, how could one even think of South Asia as a region to reckon with?

    South Asia as region of regions

    • One must understand that South Asia is perhaps the most natural regional grouping of states around the world.
    • And, at the same time, it is also the most difficult and contested grouping.
    • South Asia needs to be rethought, not as a region of states, but as a region of regions.
    • As such it demonstrates itself more as a borderland that needs to be cultivated out of contact zones.
    • Such contact zone exists beyond the limits of territorial boundaries shared by the member-states.

    So, how this applies to India-Nepal border dispute?

    • There is a need to go beyond the popular debates revolving around such “troubling” questions such as: how much area has been “encroached” upon by which state and on what basis.
    • Such questions appear to be “normal” in the way a “statist paradigm” deals with the issue.
    • To those who are to maintain their lifeworld at those zones these issues are troubling.

    Interconnected (fluid) life

    • South Asian life, essentially at the edges of the nation state, is bound to be fluid.
    • This is because the boundary, which confirms the territorial limits of a nation state, is at the same time the affirmed threshold of another nation state.
    • In a certain sense, the people living at the edges of nation states within South Asia do not actually belong to any of the two nation states.
    • Or in other words, they belong to both the states at the same time.
    • Plurality, differences and inclusivity bring coherence to borderland ontology.
    • They defy the logic of singular, unifying, exclusive identities that the nation states privilege.

    Implications for regional cooperation

    • Unless both India and Nepal agree to see the reality beyond the gaze of the statist paradigm, they would harm regional experiments such as the BIMSTEC or the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) sub-regional initiative.
    • South Asian states need to realise the difference between “regional cooperation” merely as advocacy and as an issue that demands self-approval and self-promotion.
    • South Asian countries may claim success on regional cooperation while closing all doors of recognising difference and mutual tolerance.
    • Powerful countries operating within and beyond the orbit of South Asia might become successful in establishing their control.
    • To establish control these countries may use the token of “regional cooperation” as an issue of realpolitik.

    Consider the question “South Asia is perhaps the most natural regional grouping of states around the world, yet it is also the most difficult and contested grouping. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    Region and regional identity are not just issues of “realpolitik” in South Asia; rather, the need is to “officially” accommodate this rather naturally drafted way of doing politics, if we are genuinely concerned about South Asian geopolitics.

  • Online education in India

    What are the benefits of Online Learning in distress situations?

    • In pandemic situation like today’s, where due to nationwide lockdown, all schools, colleges, universities were shut down, online learning comes as a savior to students and provided them with an opportunity to continue learning even while at home.
    • There was anxiety, particularly about the graduating batches of students, lest the ongoing session should be declared a ‘zero semester’. There were attempts from individual teachers to keep their students engaged. A few universities made arrangements for teachers to hold their classes virtually through video conferencing services such as Zoom. These are well-meaning attempts to keep the core educational processes going through this period.
    • Many private and government colleges in the country had been conducting online classes. Very small aperture terminals (VSATs) are still used by top Business schools in the country to create a closed user group (CUGs), which offers online classes globally. However, COVID-19 has hastened
    • Online education, a result of the digital world has brought a lot to the learning table at all levels of education, beginning from preschool up to higher level institutions. The move to remote learning has been enabled by several online tech stacks such as Google Classroom, Blackboard, Big Blue Button, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, all of which play an important role in this transformation.
    • With the development of ICT in education, online video-based micro-courses, e-books, simulations, models, graphics, animations, quizzes, games, and e-notes are making learning more accessible, engaging, and contextualized.
    • To ensure that learning never stops, the online education sector, and mobile networks have become the preferred platform. Teachers are preparing lessons using distance learning tools, and parents are learning new teaching techniques at home. Providing aid are the entrepreneurs offering online learning apps like BYJU’s, Adda24x7, Duolingo, Khan Academy, Witkali and several others.
    • Universities like World University of Design, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Amity, IP University, Lovely Professional University and Mumbai University are offering online classes across different subjects.
    • Schools in 165 countries around the world have closed due to the Corona virus outbreak, according to UNESCO. And, according to the International Telecommunication Union(ITU), more than 1.5 billion school children around the world are using online education, following the global lockdown.
    • Online learning is not for everyone. Schools located in remote areas of the country with limited availability of electricity and internet is making restricted use of WhatsApp to stay connected with their classrooms.

      3.) Less intimidating

      Many students in classroom environments aren’t comfortable speaking in public. In an online environment, it can be much easier to share thoughts with others

      5.) Focus on ideas

      With an estimated 93 percent of communication being non-verbal, online students don’t have to worry about body language interfering with their message. While body language can be effective sometimes, academics are more about ideas, and online education eliminates physical judgments that can cloud rational discussion.

      5.) Focus on ideas

      With an estimated 93 percent of communication being non-verbal, online students don’t have to worry about body language interfering with their message. While body language can be effective sometimes, academics are more about ideas, and online education eliminates physical judgments that can cloud rational discussion.

      8.) Cost

      Although the cost of an online course can be as much or more than a traditional course, students can save money by avoiding many fees typical of campus-based education, including lab fees, commuting costs, parking, hostels, etc. Imagine living in Dhule but going to college in Mumbai.

  • Will banning Chinese imports hurt India’s exports?

    • Following the recent clashes with Chinese troops in Ladakh, there has been a growing clamour in the country to boycott goods from the neighbouring country.
    • However, the development has caused an alarm among various industry bodies that are concerned about the adverse impact in the event of a blanket ban on exports in several sectors.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.“Curbing Chinese imports to India will do more harm than any good”. Analyse.

    How dependent is India on Chinese imports?

    China accounts for a sizable portion of India’s top imports, especially where intermediate products or components and raw materials are concerned.  Electronics: The neighbouring country also accounts for 45 per cent of India’s total electronics imports.

    • A third of machinery and almost two-fifths of organic chemicals that India purchases from the world come from China.
    • Automotive parts and fertilizers are other items where China’s share in India’s import is more than 25 per cent.
    • Several of these products are used by Indian manufacturers in the production of finished goods, thus thoroughly integrating China in India’s manufacturing supply chain.
    • For instance India sources close to 90 per cent of certain mobile phone parts from China.

    India’s export to China

    • Even as an export market, China is a major partner for India. At $15.5 billion, it is the third-largest destination for Indian shipments.
    • At the same time, India only accounts for a little over two per cent of China’s total exports, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO).

    How could a blanket ban on Chinese imports hit India’s exports?

    • Across sectors from pharmaceuticals to telecommunications and automobiles, industry associations have been speaking up against a complete boycott of Chinese imports.
    • A “blanket ban” may not be feasible because of India’s dependence on the country for crucial raw materials.
    • Banning the imports of raw materials from China without which products over here cannot be manufactured will make things difficult.
    • If China takes any retaliatory measures, it would impact India more negatively.

    Most crucial: The Pharma sector could be worst hit

    • For instance, of the nearly $3.6 billion worth of ingredients that Indian drug-makers import to manufacture several essential medicines, China catered to around 68 per cent.
    • India is considered one of the largest pharma industries in the world and accounts for a considerable portion of imports of finished formulations by other large economies like the US.
    • While pharma consignments from China have unofficially been stopped at ports in India, and are expected to be cleared after thorough checks,
    • A ban could create shortages of medicines both for India’s domestic and export markets.

    Are there any alternatives in this situation?

    • The decision to boycott non-essential products made in China can be left to the individuals.
    • However, trade-related measures like raising duties on cheaper raw materials imported from China would be better than an outright embargo.
    • This would still allow access to crucial ingredients in the short-term while India looks to build self-reliance or maybe switch to alternate trade partners.
    • It would be better to maybe raise duties on cheaper raw materials instead of going in for a blanket ban.

    Alternatives to Chinese imports

    • Countries like the US, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico and certain European countries could be tapped as alternate import sources for some critical electronic, vehicular and pharmaceutical components as well.
    • It is likely that the costs of the raw materials from these alternate sources will be higher and may get passed on to consumers if the manufacturers cannot absorb them.
    • India will need to look into the totality of its trade with China and Hong Kong and implement certain short- to long-term plans to reduce its dependence on them, according to FIEO.

    Way forward

    • The government’s “Atmanirbhar” focus is expected to help ministries handhold industries where self-reliance needs to be built.
    • Some measures, like the decision to push bulk drug parks in India, have to be executed.
    • While an increase in tariff can be one way to achieve import substitution, the more effective strategy would be to provide an ecosystem that addresses the cost disability of Indian manufacturing leading to such imports.

  • Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in education systems across the world a/c to the latest GEM report.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown on India’s education sector.

    About the report

    • Originally the EFA Global Monitoring Report, it has been renamed as the Global Education Monitoring Report.
    • It is developed by an independent team and published by UNESCO aimed to sustain commitment towards Education for All.
    • The ‘UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), based in Montreal provides data for the report on students, teachers, school performance, adult literacy and education expenditure.

    Highlights of the 2020 report

    • The report noted that efforts to maintain learning continuity during the pandemic may have actually worsened exclusion trends.
    • During the height of school closures in April 2020, almost 91% of students around the world were out of school.
    • About 40% of low- and lower-middle-income countries have not supported learners at risk of exclusion during this crisis, such as the poor, linguistic minorities and learners with disabilities.

    1. Risks of school closure

    • School closures also interrupted support mechanisms from which many disadvantaged learners benefit.
    • For poor students who depend on school for free meals or even free sanitary napkins, closures has been a major blow.
    • Cancellation of examinations in many countries, including India, may result in scoring dependence on teachers’ judgements of students, which could be affected by stereotypes of certain types of students.

    2. Substitutes were imperfect

    • Education systems responded with distance learning solutions, all of which offered less or more imperfect substitutes for classroom instruction said the report.
    • Many poorer countries opted for radio and television lessons, while some upper-middle-income countries adopted for online learning platforms for primary and secondary education.
    • India has used a mix of all three systems for educational continuity.

    3. The digital divide has resurfaced yet again

    • Even as governments increasingly rely on technology, the digital divide lays bare the limitations of this approach.
    • Not all students and teachers have access to an adequate internet connection, equipment, skills and working conditions to take advantage of available platforms.

  • Article 371A and Nagaland

    In a scathing letter to CM, Nagaland Governor has said the “scenario in the State is grim” and that “law and order has collapsed”.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the success of Naga Peace Accord in light of the ongoing law and order crisis in the state.

    Nagaland (Article 371A, 13th Amendment Act, 1962)

    • Parliament cannot legislate in matters of Naga religion or social practices, the Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law.
    • Parliament also cannot intervene in ownership and transfer of land and its resources, without the concurrence of the Legislative Assembly of the state.
    • This provision was inserted in the Constitution after a 16-point agreement between the Centre and the Naga People’s Convention in 1960, which led to the creation of Nagaland in 1963.
    • Also, there is a provision for a 35-member Regional Council for Tuensang district, which elects the Tuensang members in the Assembly.
    • A member from the Tuensang district is Minister for Tuensang Affairs. The Governor has the final say on all Tuensang-related matters.

    What is the issue?

    • Challenging the legitimacy of the government without any resistance from the State law and order machinery has created a crisis of confidence in the system.
    • The constitutional establishment is being challenged on a day-to-day basis by armed gangs who question the integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
    • The instruments of law and order have remained totally unresponsive.

    Armed militancy is back again

    • Their armed miscreants appoint their own dealers for every commodity from salt to construction material coming into the State and levy illegal taxes on every item.
    • There is over 200% cost escalation in transportation the moment a goods laden truck enters Nagaland due to gunpoint extortions by the armed miscreants.

  • Why China is being aggressive along the LAC

    Despite India’s careful approach which involved not upsetting China’s domestic and geopolitical sensitivities, Galwan happened. What explains the Chinese aggression? There could be many factors. This article delves into these factors. 

    Not upsetting China

    • The India government has been very careful not to upset China’s domestic and geopolitical sensitivities.
    • Barring occasional joint statements issued with leaders from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries, reasserting India’s commitment to “freedom of navigation”  India has stayed away from criticising China on controversial topics,
    • On issues such as “de-radicalisation” camps in Xinjiang, crackdown on protests in Hong Kong, or disputes with Taiwan India India didn’t criticise China.

    Yet China chose to increase tensions along the LAC. Why?

    1. China wants to reorient global order

    • Unlike the Soviet Union of the 1940s China is not an ideological state that intends to export communism to other countries.
    • When it was rising, China had adopted different tactical positions — “hide your capacity and bide your time”, “peaceful rise” or “peaceful development”.
    • That era is over.
    • Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese think they have arrived.
    • With the global economy in the doldrums, globalisation in a crisis and the U.S. under an isolationist President hostile towards China Beijing believes the global order is at a breaking point.
    • It is fighting back through what game theorists call “salami tactics” — where a dominant power attempts to establish its hegemony piece by piece.
    • India is one slice in this salami slice strategy.

    2. India: An ally-in-progress of the US

    • It sees India as an ally-in-progress of the U.S.
    •  So, China actions are a result of the strategic loss [India] that has already happened.
    • If India is what many in the West call the “counterweight” to China’s rise, Beijing’s definite message is that it is not deterred by the counterweight.
    • This is a message not just to India, but to a host of China’s rivals that are teaming up and eager to recruit India to the club.

    Factors that could explain China’s move

    Global factors

    • Europe has been devastated by the virus.
    • The U.S. is battling in an election year the COVID-19 outbreak.
    • It is also battling the deepest economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
    • Its global leadership is unravelling fast.

    Regional and local factors

    • The Indian economy was in trouble even before COVID-19 struck the country, slowing down its rise.
    • Social upheaval over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, and the National Register of Citizens had weakened the Indian polity.
    • India’s traditional clout in its neighbourhood was slipping.
    • Tensions with Pakistan have been high keeping the troops occupied in the border areas.
    • Nepal raised boundary issues with India.
    • Sri Lanka is diversifying its foreign policy.and China is making deep inroads into that region.
    • Bangladesh was deeply miffed with the CAA.
    • Even in Afghanistan, where Pakistan, China, Russia and the U.S. are involved in the transition process, India is out.
    •  A confluence of all these factors, which point to a decline in the country’s smart power, allowed China to make aggressive moves on the LAC.

    Consider the question “At the time when relations reached a nadir with China, India needs to focus on its neighbourhood and mend win back the friendly neighbours. Comment”

    Conclusion

    What India needs is a national security strategy that’s decoupled from the compulsions of domestic politics and anchored in neighbourhood realism. It should stand up to China’s bullying on the border now, with a long-term focus on enhancing capacities and winning back its friendly neighbours. There are no quick fixes this time.

  • India will have to manage its conflict on its own

    The Galwan incident marked the new low in the India-China relations. Following it, there have been talks of a closer alliance with the U.S. This article analyses the utility, potential and the limitations of this approach.

    Exploring the strategic options

    • As the border stand-off with China deepens, India will have to think of all possible strategic options that gives it leverage.
    • One of the options is new arrangements with other powers.
    • This is the right moment to mobilise international opinion on China.
    • But can this be translated into concerted global action to exert real pressure on China?

    Things India should consider while forming alliance with the US

    • International relations are formed in the context of a country’s development paradigm.
    • India’s primary aim should be to preserve the maximum space for its development model, if it can actually formulate one.
    • India is not unique in this respect.
    •  The question for India is not just whether the US has a stake in India’s development, which it might.
    • But it is, rather, to ask whether India’s development needs will fit into the emerging US development paradigm.
    • Will the very same political economy forces that create a disengagement with China also come in the way of a closer relationship with India?
    • Some sections of American big business might favour India.
    • But the underlying political economy dynamics in the US are less favourable.
    • Will the US give India the room it needs on trade, intellectual property, regulation, agriculture, labour mobility, the very areas where freedom is vital for India’s economy?
    • Will a US hell-bent on bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US, easily gel with an “atma nirbhar” Bharat?
    • To see what is at stake, we just need to look how the development paradigm is driving tensions on trade, taxation and regulatory issues between the US and EU.

    Why India avoided alignment with the US in the past

    •  But the drivers of this have often been legitimate differences over development, including climate change.
    • It has also been that, at various points, that alignment was against India’s other strategic commitments.
    • India was wise to stay out of the war in Iraq, it was wise not to upset Russia.
    • It is wise not to throw its weight behind the US’s Iran policy.
    • There is more maturity in the US to understand India’s position.

    Global reluctance in collective action against China

    • It is an odd moment in global affairs, where there is recognition of a common challenge emanating from China.
    • But there is no global appetite to take concerted action.
    • An interesting example might be the global response to the BRI.
    • Many countries are struggling to meet their BRI debt obligations.
    • But it is difficult to see the rest of the international community helping all these countries to wean their regimes away from dependence on Chinese finance.
    • Similarly, there are now great concerns over frontier areas of conflict like cyber security and space.
    • It is difficult to imagine concerted global action to create rules in these area, partly because Great Powers like the US and Russia will always want to maintain their exceptionalism.

    Limitations of global alliance and public opinion in solving local conflicts

    • 1) The international community has not been very effective in neutralising
    •  exercised by some powers.
    • This is the tactic Pakistan has used.
    • 2) Don’t count on the fact that the world will support an Indian escalation beyond a point.
    • The efforts of the international community, in the final analysis, will be to try and throw cold water on the conflict.
    • No one has a serious stake in the fate of the terrain India and China are disputing.
    • At the end of the day, India has to manage China and Pakistan largely on its own.

    Conclusion

    Even as we deal with the military situation on the border, the test of India’s resolve will be its ability to return to some first principle thinking about its own power.