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  • A contested UNSC seat poses a test for India

    A contested UNSC seat poses a test for India

    Why in the News

    India has launched its bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2028-29, with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voting in June 2027. Unlike India’s past wins, the seat is contested: Tajikistan, which has never served, was already the Asia-Pacific group’s agreed candidate. India lost both its earlier contests, to Pakistan in 1975 and Japan in 1996.

    How is a non-permanent UNSC seat won?

    1. What it is: Besides its permanent members, the UNSC has ten elected seats, filled by UNGA vote for two year terms. Like a club rotating posts, each region usually agrees its candidate in advance.
    2. Two thirds rule: A winner needs two thirds of the Assembly, so India needs at least 129 votes of 193.
    3. Regional groups: Seats rotate among the Asia-Pacific, African, Latin American and Caribbean (GRULAC), Western European and Others (WEOG) and Eastern European groups.
    4. Consensus or contest: Groups sometimes settle candidates decades in advance. When consensus breaks, the race moves to the full UNGA.
    5. The takeaway: A seat India once won by turn must now be won by votes.

    Why does India want a ninth term now?

    1. Past record: India has served eight terms as the 55 member Asia-Pacific group’s consensus choice. Even Pakistan votes for India in these elections, and India returns the favour.
    2. Unfinished agenda: COVID-19 disrupted India’s last term. The government wants resolutions on terrorism and UN reform before its own term ends in 2029.
    3. Permanent seat elusive: With permanent membership out of reach, frequent elected terms keep India inside the Council’s decision making.

    What works against India in a contest?

    1. First timers favoured: India’s size, economy and Council record do not win seats by themselves. Many members favour small countries that have never served.
    2. Tajikistan’s pitch: Tajikistan presents itself as a small country that will “listen to all voices, large and small”, which appeals to an under represented Global South.
    3. Bloc arithmetic: Tajikistan is endorsed by Central Asia and the 57 member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
    4. The battleground: India expects the Global North, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Pacific island votes. The decisive votes lie in Africa, South America and South Asia.

    What do this year’s UN votes signal?

    1. Anti big power mood: Global South votes have run against the US, Russia and Israel, with at least 13 resolutions criticising Israel in the 80th session.
    2. Upsets: First timer Kyrgyzstan beat the western backed Philippines, and Germany lost to Portugal and Austria, a loss attributed to its support for Israel.
    3. UNGA presidency: Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman beat a western backed candidate from Cyprus.
    4. India’s exposure: Strategic autonomy, India’s refusal to join any bloc, may help it, but its Israel ties may draw questions after the Prime Minister’s visit in February 2026.

    What are India’s options?

    1. Persuade Tajikistan to withdraw: Kazakhstan stepped aside in 2010 and Afghanistan in 2013. Leaders met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek without any withdrawal.
    2. Cost of a Tajik exit: Global South states may see India as putting its second turn in a decade above a small country’s first.
    3. Step aside: India could return a year or two later with full group backing, honouring Tajikistan’s hosting of an Indian Air Force base at Ayni and a medical base at Farkhor.
    4. Split term: Dividing the term has worked only between evenly matched candidates.

    Challenges

    1. Incumbency fatigue: Frequent terms weaken India against a first time candidate.
    2. Israel ties: Close ties with Israel may cost votes in an Assembly that punished western backed candidates this year.
    3. Partner at stake: Defeating a partner that hosted Indian military facilities could strain ties in Central Asia.

    Way Forward

    1. Sequenced terms: Agree with Tajikistan that one candidate yields now for assured group backing next time.
    2. Global South outreach: Court African, Latin American and South Asian votes through development partnerships.
    3. Early decision: Decide whether to contest or step aside well before the vote.

    Conclusion

    In this contest India’s size counts for less than a small country’s claim to a first turn. Whether New Delhi fights, negotiates or steps aside will show whether it ranks Global South leadership above one more elected term.

    Key numbers

    1. India’s UNSC terms: 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, 2011-12, 2021-22.
    2. Record margins: 187 of 191 votes (2010); 184 of 192 (2020).
    3. Japan: 12 UNSC terms; bid announced in 2024 for the 2043 election.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2015, GS2, 12 marks] Discuss the impediments India is facing in its pursuit of a permanent seat in UN Security Council.”

  • India’s problem of overtreatment, overmedication

    India’s problem of overtreatment, overmedication

    Why in the News

    Modern medicine’s growing power to test and treat is increasingly turning into overtreatment and overmedication: tests, medicines and procedures a patient does not need. In India this sits alongside undertreatment, since many still lack essential primary care, affordable medicines and timely treatment.

    What is overtreatment, and how does it begin?

    1. What it is: Overtreatment is a cascade: a test spots a chance abnormality, which leads to more tests, a diagnosis and a possibly permanent prescription. It is like a car service that keeps finding parts to replace.
    2. Prevention turned treatment: A check up meant to prevent illness can end in long term medication or surgery.
    3. The takeaway: The harm comes from a chain no one stops, so patients carry medicines and procedures they never needed.

    What drives overtreatment?

    1. Unnecessary testing: A 2016 review found routine health check packages often include unwarranted tests. These cause false positives, anxiety and overdiagnosis, meaning labelling conditions that would never have caused harm.
    2. Fragmented, specialist led care: Patients with common problems go straight to specialists, and chronic patients see several, each optimising one part of care, so the patient is treated in parts.
    3. Healthcare as a marketplace: Tests, supplements and devices are sold as products, and payment rewards activity:
      • the fee for service model pays per test and procedure, and many patients think a visit incomplete without a prescription;
      • insurance creates moral hazard, behaviour that changes because someone else pays: people skip preventive care (ex ante), and hospitals and patients choose costlier care after illness (ex post).
    4. Patient expectations: Worried patients want something tangible, so reassurance looks like inaction. Busy doctors often comply.
    5. Defensive medicine: Clinicians fearing a missed rare diagnosis order another test as the safer option, yet every test can uncover abnormalities that would never cause harm.

    Why are older adults most at risk?

    1. Polypharmacy: Polypharmacy, taking several medicines at once, affects about 49% of older adults in India, by a 2021 review of Indian studies.
    2. Five or more medicines: A 2025 study found roughly one in three older adults take five or more prescribed medicines.
    3. Inappropriate medicines: The same study found potentially inappropriate medicines in 28.8% of cases.
    4. Medication reviews: Not everyone on several medicines is overtreated, but the figures show why medication reviews and deprescribing, stopping medicines no longer needed, must become routine.

    What does the global Choosing Wisely movement show?

    1. Middle income spread: Overtreatment was first recognised in high income countries and is now visible across many middle income nations.
    2. Choosing Wisely: This global movement asks doctors and patients to choose interventions more carefully, with specialty societies listing tests and treatments to question (2012 to 2023).
    3. Scale of the lists: Nearly 80 specialty societies published close to 700 recommendations on low value care, care that adds cost or risk without benefit.

    Challenges

    1. Weak primary care: About 40% of public health funds reach primary care, against the two thirds target in the National Health Policy, 2017.
    2. Antibiotic overuse: Over prescription of antibiotics has made India a global hotspot for antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where drugs stop working against infections.
    3. Patients pay directly: Households pay about two fifths of all health spending out of pocket (2021-22), so needless tests drain family budgets.

    Way Forward

    1. Primary care first: Restore the family physician as first contact for non emergency needs, referring patients onward and reconciling prescriptions.
    2. Review and stop dates: Give every prescription a review date and, where suitable, a stop date, and hold structured medication reviews for people on five or more medicines.
    3. Indian lists: Professional societies and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) should list low value tests and treatments, and hospitals should measure unnecessary care avoided.
    4. Four patient questions: Before any test or treatment, patients should ask why it is needed, what happens if they wait, its benefits and risks, and the alternatives.
    5. Pay for outcomes: Payment systems and insurers should reward outcomes and continuity of care, not volume.

    Conclusion

    India must fix too little care and too much care at once, and both trace back to a weak first point of contact. Whether insurers and professional bodies begin to reward restraint will show if Indian medicine can learn when not to act.

    Government Initiatives for Primary Healthcare

    1. Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs): Over 1.85 lakh centres, formerly Health and Wellness Centres, provide primary care including screening for non communicable diseases.
    2. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP): Jan Aushadhi Kendras sell generic medicines at 50% to 90% lower prices.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2014, GS3, 12 marks] Can overuse and the availability of antibiotics without doctor’s prescription, the contributors to the emergence of drug-resistant diseases in India? What are the available mechanisms for monitoring and control? Critically discuss the various issues involved.”

  • India’s water plants are failing to catch elusive ‘forever chemicals’

    India’s water plants are failing to catch elusive ‘forever chemicals’

    Why in the News

    India’s drinking water standard, IS 10500:2012, sets no limit for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and at one Chennai plant treated water carried more of them than raw water. An Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) study found all eight target PFAS 5% to 103% higher after treatment, and systems that can remove these “forever chemicals” are not yet commercially available.

    What are PFAS, and why are they called forever chemicals?

    1. What it is: PFAS are synthetic chemicals built on several carbon-fluorine bonds, among the strongest in chemistry, so they barely break down. Like plastic litter, they stay in soil and water long after release.
    2. Industrial uses: Industry has used PFAS for about 60 years in coatings, textiles and other industrial products.
    3. Precursors: Some fluorinated compounds are precursors, less stable chemicals that later turn into stable PFAS. A test that looks only for a fixed list of PFAS misses them.
    4. The takeaway: A chemical that does not degrade and slips past standard tests can build up in drinking water unseen, which is why the missing limit matters.

    What have Indian studies found?

    1. IIT-Madras study (2024): The team analysed 14 samples from groundwater, surface water and successive stages of a Chennai treatment plant. Residential wells near garbage dumps carried the highest PFAS levels.
    2. Precursor conversion in treatment: The likely cause of the rise is unidentified precursors turning into stable PFAS inside the plant. The study did not measure them.
    3. Visakhapatnam coast: A GITAM (Deemed to be) University study tested seawater and sewage for 77 PFAS and found 38.
    4. Sewage as a source: A model estimated sewage supplies about 41% of the median coastal PFAS level. Separating household from factory inputs needs systematic sampling where they mix.

    Why is the true scale of contamination unclear?

    1. No common method: A 2025 review of studies from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal called PFAS a real concern of unclear extent. Research groups test PFAS differently, so results cannot be compared.
    2. Fixed lists miss compounds: The eight target PFAS are a fraction of the fluorinated compounds likely present, so testing should go beyond a fixed list.
    3. Better tools, new errors: High resolution mass spectrometry, a lab screening method, can find PFAS beyond a fixed list. Samples can also pick up stray PFAS during collection.

    How harmful are PFAS?

    1. Risk depends on exposure: Detecting PFAS does not by itself show a health risk, which depends on the type, dose, duration and route of exposure.
    2. Cancer classification: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization body, issued a 2025 monograph. It classed perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as “carcinogenic to humans” and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
    3. Animal evidence: A study published this February found a mix of 24 PFAS delayed zebrafish hatching, slowed growth, built up in blood and lowered heart rates.

    How is India regulating PFAS?

    1. No manufacturing ban: The Union Environment Ministry says no specific regulation bans PFAS manufacturing.
    2. Standard under revision: A Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Working Group on Emerging Contaminants and Forever Chemicals is examining limits. How many PFAS to cover, and how to test them, is not yet final.
    3. Baseline data: The CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, is in a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) funded National Implementation Plan to build baseline exposure data. The institute can detect 50 PFAS molecules.

    Challenges

    1. Treatment cannot remove PFAS: Conventional biological wastewater treatment cannot remove PFAS, and low cost adsorption materials that bind them are still undeveloped.
    2. No penalty pathway: No clear regulatory pathway exists to penalise a source responsible for PFAS contamination.
    3. Named chemical gaps: Regulating only a named list of chemicals leaves precursors and transformation products outside the law.
    4. Data gaps as delay: Waiting for complete exposure data can hold up controls even on PFAS whose hazards are well established.

    Way Forward

    1. Precautionary interim limits: BIS should set interim limits for well studied PFAS in the revised standard now.
    2. Chemical inventory: Establish which PFAS are manufactured, imported and used in India, alongside baseline monitoring and toxicology studies.
    3. Harmonised monitoring: Adopt one national testing method that also screens for precursors and other fluorinated compounds.

    Conclusion

    India has evidence of PFAS in its water but a standard that does not yet measure them. Whether BIS adopts interim limits that also reach precursors, or waits for full exposure data, will decide how soon treated water is safe.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2024] With reference to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are used in making many consumer products, consider the following statements: 1. PFAS are found to be widespread in drinking water, food, and food packaging materials. 2. PFAS are not easily degraded in the environment. 3. Persistent exposure to PFAS can lead to bioaccumulation in animal bodies. Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3* ANSWER: (d)”

  • Sound and fiery

    Why in the News

    Green crackers, the Supreme Court’s answer to Deepavali smog since 2018, promise cleaner fireworks but do little in practice to curb air and noise pollution. The Court’s latest order permits specified next generation joined green crackers and declines a total ban on fireworks, invoking public sentiment, as Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) head into another winter.

    What are green crackers, and why did the Court turn to them?

    1. What it is: A green cracker is a firework with a modified chemical mix that releases less smoke and dust per cracker. Like a “lite” product, it means less harm per unit, not none.
    2. CSIR-NEERI: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) promoted green crackers. It says the newer generation cuts PM10, the coarser inhalable dust, by 45% to 60%.
    3. Arjun Gopal judgment (2018): In Arjun Gopal and Others vs Union of India, the Supreme Court stopped short of a ban. It allowed only reduced emission and green crackers.
    4. Laris and time window: The same judgment banned joined crackers (laris), strings that burst in a chain, and set a two hour window for bursting.
    5. The takeaway: Green crackers let the Court avoid a total ban and still promise cleaner air, so the whole policy rests on whether they really pollute less.

    How has the Court’s stance on fireworks swung since 2016?

    1. Tighten and loosen cycle: The Court has alternately tightened and loosened its curbs on fireworks in the NCR, so the rules change from winter to winter.
    2. 2016 suspension: After Deepavali pushed fine particle pollution (PM2.5, particles small enough to reach deep into the lungs) to extreme levels, the Court suspended licences for selling fireworks in the NCR.
    3. 2017 relaxation and reversal: In September 2017 the Court relaxed the suspension, partly to protect existing licence holders and livelihoods. It restored the suspension for Deepavali that October.

    How much do crackers add to Delhi’s winter pollution?

    1. Not the main source: Construction dust, vehicles, stubble burning and stagnant, cold air drive Delhi’s winter pollution, not crackers.
    2. Acute spikes: When those sources push the air towards “severe” levels, crackers add a sharp, short spike on top.
    3. Spike under green crackers: In 2025, the first Deepavali after the Court permitted limited green crackers, Delhi recorded its worst post Deepavali fine particle average since 2021.

    Why do green crackers fall short?

    1. Lab claims versus real use: CSIR-NEERI’s promised cut in particulate emissions does not hold under real world conditions.
    2. More crackers, same smoke: When “cleaner” crackers are burst in greater numbers, the savings in particulate pollution disappear, so a lower emission per cracker yields no lower total.
    3. Noise left out: The claimed gains count only particulate matter and do not account for noise pollution at all.
    4. Sentiment versus health: By invoking public sentiment to refuse a total ban, the Court has set cultural demand against a health harm its own earlier orders acknowledged.

    Challenges

    1. Counterfeit certification: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the NCR’s statutory air quality body, found registered makers selling green cracker QR codes to unregistered ones. Unauthorised crackers then passed as certified.
    2. No local testing: The explosives regulator, the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), had no testing facility in Delhi, so crackers sold there could not be checked.
    3. Police cannot tell: In 2018 and 2019 the police could not distinguish green crackers from conventional ones, so curbs could not be enforced on the street.
    4. Informal industry: Much fireworks manufacturing runs outside the formal sector, beyond licensing and inspection. Eg. Small units around Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu.

    Way Forward

    1. Formal manufacturing: Bring fireworks units into the formal sector, with licensing and inspection, so regulations are followed in practice.
    2. Traceable QR codes: Certifying bodies should issue codes only against verified registrations and audit who sells them.
    3. Testing in the NCR: PESO should set up a testing facility in Delhi.
    4. Public health awareness: Spread awareness of the health toll among those who love crackers, so demand falls alongside supply.

    Conclusion

    Green crackers let the Court avoid choosing between festival sentiment and clean air, but they deliver neither a real pollution cut nor enforceable rules. Until manufacturing is formal and certification can be checked on the street, each new order will change which crackers are legal more than how much pollution they cause.

    Key numbers

    1. PM2.5 behind the 2016 suspension: above 700 µg/m3 in the NCR after Deepavali (November 2016).
    2. Delhi post Deepavali PM2.5, 2025: 488 µg/m3 average; hourly peak of 675 µg/m3.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2015, GS1, 12 marks] Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three mega cities of the country but the air pollution is much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so?”

  • In Manipur, the work of peace is still to be done

    Why in the News

    At least nine people were killed in a single night across Manipur‘s hill districts of Kamjong, Kangpokpi and Ukhrul, in ambushes and gunfights between armed Kuki and Naga groups. After three and a half years of ethnic violence, the State has only a fragile calm. The killings show the State government cannot heal or contain its divides.

    What has the Manipur conflict become?

    1. What it is: Manipur’s conflict is a chain of ethnic clashes over land and identity, begun in May 2023 between the valley’s Meiteis and the hill based Kuki-Zo. Like a fire opening new fronts, it now involves the Nagas.
    2. Kuki-Naga fault line: The old Kuki-Naga rivalry that fuelled bloodshed in the 1990s has reopened. Since February, dozens from both communities have been killed and houses torched.
    3. Overlapping conflicts: Meiteis, Kukis and Nagas are now caught in overlapping conflicts, so a settlement between any two groups no longer ends the violence.
    4. Blockades: Civilians bear the violence and also blockades across the hill districts that cut their access to essential supplies.
    5. The takeaway: A two sided conflict has become three cornered, so restoring order now needs the State to act across every hill district at once.

    Why have President’s Rule and an elected government not restored peace?

    1. President’s Rule: After the N Biren Singh government was dissolved in February 2025, central rule was expected to bring an administration seen as less partisan.
    2. Partial calm: Large scale clashes declined under President’s Rule, but normalcy stayed elusive and the deep divides between communities persisted.
    3. Elected government: As calls for an elected government grew, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a Meitei like his predecessor, became Chief Minister, with a Kuki and a Naga Deputy Chief Minister.
    4. Representation without settlement: Power sharing raised hope that political representation would lead to a lasting settlement, but Kuki-Naga violence has grown since.
    5. Central support: The Prime Minister met the Chief Minister last Saturday and promised all possible assistance to the State government.

    Why have weapons surrender appeals failed?

    1. Looted armouries: Thousands of firearms have been looted from State armouries since the conflict began, and armed groups still hold them.
    2. Governor’s appeal: Soon after President’s Rule was imposed, the Governor called for the surrender of weapons.
    3. Chief Minister’s ultimatum: In August the Chief Minister set a 15 day ultimatum for the voluntary surrender of illegal firearms.
    4. Continued gun violence: Shootings have gone on after both appeals, which shows that voluntary surrender has not worked.

    Challenges

    1. Physical separation: The communities remain split by security manned buffer zones, which block movement, trade and contact.
    2. Displacement: Thousands cannot return home. Eg. Around 60,000 people displaced since 2023 (government figures).
    3. Rival political demands: Kuki-Zo organisations demand a separate administration, which remains the central unresolved issue.
    4. Porous Myanmar border: Cross border drug and arms trafficking funds armed groups. Eg. The Moreh drug corridor in Manipur.

    Way Forward

    1. Demilitarise society: Recover looted and illegal firearms and re-establish the State’s authority across the hill districts.
    2. Disarm and prosecute: Disarm the armed groups and prosecute those responsible for the killings as an immediate priority.
    3. Freedom of movement: Reopen roads and end blockades so people can move freely and live safely alongside one another.
    4. Sustained dialogue: Create conditions for continuing dialogue among Meitei, Kuki and Naga representatives as the start of a long reconciliation.

    Conclusion

    Manipur has moved from central rule to a power sharing elected government, but neither has disarmed the groups driving the violence. Recovery of looted weapons and safe movement across the hills will show whether the State has begun to restore its authority.

    Back2Basics: President’s Rule (Article 356)

    1. Constitutional basis: Article 356 lets the President take over a State’s government when its constitutional machinery fails, usually on the Governor’s report.
    2. Effect: The State’s Council of Ministers is dismissed and Parliament exercises the State legislature’s powers. The Assembly may be suspended or dissolved.
    3. Judicial review: S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) made a proclamation under Article 356 open to judicial review.
    4. Manipur’s spell: The Assembly was kept in suspended animation rather than dissolved, and President’s Rule was revoked in February 2026.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2025, GS3, 15 marks] What are the major challenges to internal security and peace process in the North-Eastern States? Map the various peace accords and agreements initiated by the government in the past decade.”

  • BIMSTEC adopts ‘Delhi Declaration’ on terrorism

    BIMSTEC adopts ‘Delhi Declaration’ on terrorism

    Why in the News

    For the first time, the Home Ministers of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) have met as a group and adopted a common counter terrorism text, the Delhi Declaration. India hosted the meeting, which also covered drugs, cybercrime and fugitive criminals.

    What does the Delhi Declaration commit members to?

    1. What it is: The Delhi Declaration is a shared pledge on terrorism by all seven members, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, like neighbours agreeing to guard one street.
    2. Four commitments: Members will:
      • counter radicalisation and violent extremism conducive to terrorism;
      • prevent misuse of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes;
      • tackle terrorist recruitment;
      • curb terror financing through internationally agreed counter terror financing and anti money laundering standards.
    3. Condemnation: Members “strongly condemn terrorism” in all its forms, “including cross-border terrorism, wherever, by whomsoever”, and want perpetrators brought to justice under domestic and international law.
    4. UN sanctions: The declaration seeks full use of United Nations (UN) Security Council sanctions. These include the 1267 Sanctions Committee list, which freezes assets of ISIL and Al-Qaida linked people and bans their travel.
    5. The takeaway: A region that lacked any common text on terrorism now has one that names cross border terrorism, which India has long sought in regional forums.

    What cooperation did India seek?

    1. Five areas: The Union Home Minister named drug control; counter terrorism and legal cooperation; repatriation of fugitive criminals; cybersecurity and cybercrime investigation; and institutional cooperation and capacity building.
    2. Changing terrorist tactics: Terror groups now recruit through encrypted communication and social media. They also use drones, cryptocurrency and the dark web, the hidden part of the internet, to spread illegal activity.
    3. Real time intelligence: The Home Minister called for real time sharing of actionable intelligence and closer work among police, intelligence and border management agencies.
    4. No safe haven: No member should shelter fugitive criminals, and members should cooperate in their extradition.
    5. Illicit finance: India sought a coordinated regional approach to illicit financial transactions and terror financing.

    Why does a regional approach matter?

    1. Crime across borders: Criminal networks operate beyond national borders and exploit regional lacunae, gaps no single country’s law can reach, so regional cooperation is needed.
    2. India’s framing: India says it believes in sovereignty and peaceful resolution of disputes, and seeks joint action against international terrorism, organised crime and narco trade.
    3. “Cyber slavery”: The Home Minister flagged human trafficking and cyber slavery, meaning trafficking people into online scam centres and forcing them to defraud others, as grave concerns.
    4. Bangladesh’s representation: Bangladesh, the current BIMSTEC chair, sent a Senior Secretary of its Home Ministry rather than its Home Minister.

    Challenges

    1. Bilateral frictions: Disputes between members weaken joint action. Eg. The Rohingya refugee crisis between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
    2. Drug routes through Myanmar: Instability in Myanmar keeps trafficking routes into India’s Northeast open. Eg. Heroin and methamphetamine from the Golden Triangle.
    3. Weak secretariat: BIMSTEC’s secretariat has little executive authority and limited funds, so follow up depends on each member.
    4. Shifting political priorities: Changes of government alter regional commitments. Eg. The political transition in Bangladesh since 2024.

    Way Forward

    1. Binding legal instruments: Convert the declaration into ratified agreements on mutual legal assistance and extradition among all seven members.
    2. Linked financial intelligence: Connect members’ Financial Intelligence Units, the agencies that track suspicious money, to trace terror funds, including cryptocurrency flows.
    3. Joint action on scam centres: Run coordinated rescues and prosecutions against cyber slavery compounds and the networks that recruit victims.
    4. Regular ministerial review: Make the Home Ministers’ meeting a standing annual forum that reviews progress on the declaration.

    Conclusion

    BIMSTEC now has a shared text on terrorism, but its value depends on members acting on it inside their own borders. Whether the Home Ministers meet again and turn India’s areas of cooperation into working legal and intelligence arrangements is what to watch.

    Back2Basics: BIMSTEC

    1. Origin: Formed by the Bangkok Declaration of June 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand). Myanmar joined that year, and Nepal and Bhutan in 2004.
    2. Institutions: Its permanent secretariat has been in Dhaka since 2014. The BIMSTEC Charter, adopted at the fifth summit in 2022, gives the grouping legal status.
    3. Role for India: It links India’s Neighbourhood First and Act East policies and offers a working alternative to a dormant South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
    4. Bangkok Vision 2030: Adopted at the sixth summit in April 2025 as a roadmap for a prosperous, resilient and open region.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026] Match List I (BIMSTEC Centre) with List II (Location): A. BIMSTEC Cultural Industries Observatory B. BIMSTEC Energy Centre C. BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate D. BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility 1. NOIDA 2. Bengaluru 3. Colombo 4. Thimphu (a) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4 (b) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4 (c) A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3 (d) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3 ANSWER: C”

  • China says ‘never recognised’ U.T. of Ladakh; India hits back

    Why in the News

    China has moved from restored diplomatic and travel links with India to openly disowning Indian rule in Ladakh, saying it has “never recognised” the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh. It is Beijing’s first such statement since the Prime Minister’s 2024 meeting with the Chinese President began the thaw. The trigger is India’s official naming of features in Ladakh.

    What has India named, and why?

    1. What it is: India has fixed official names for 28 features in Ladakh on maps of the Survey of India, the national mapping agency, much like a city putting up name boards on its own streets.
    2. Features named: The list falls into three groups:
      • heights: 11 peaks and five mountains;
      • land and ice: six land areas and two glaciers;
      • routes and water: two passes, a valley, a river, a lake and another waterbody.
    3. Location: Some lie along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army skirmished during a four year standoff.
    4. India’s stated purpose: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) says marking the places on the official map aids their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public.
    5. The takeaway: Naming a feature on an official map asserts that the state administers it, so a mapping exercise has become a sovereignty dispute.

    Why does China reject the names, and how has India replied?

    1. China’s position: China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the names “illegal and void” and said the western sector of the China-India boundary belongs to China.
    2. Root of the objection: China disputes India’s August 2019 decision to split Jammu and Kashmir into UTs and dilute Article 370, which had given the former State special status.
    3. Earlier protest: In 2019 Beijing accused India of undermining China’s territorial sovereignty by unilaterally changing its domestic law.
    4. Precedent on roads: In September 2020, China made a similar claim against an Indian project to build high altitude roads in eastern Ladakh.
    5. India’s reply: The MEA spokesperson called the UT “an integral and inalienable part of India” and said no amount of Chinese denial can change this established fact.

    Why do these features matter?

    1. Friction point: The named features abut Patrolling Point 15, which saw heavy troop mobilisation after the deadly Galwan clashes of June 2020.
    2. Disengagement: The two armies agreed to stand down from that point in September 2022, as part of a series of disengagement negotiations.
    3. Rival cartographic claims: For many years both sides have reinforced claims in the Western and Eastern sectors by naming features on official maps and creating administrative jurisdictions.

    Challenges

    1. Renaming as a claim: China uses names to press claims across the LAC. Eg. Its “standardised” names for places in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017.
    2. New administrative units: China creates jurisdictions over territory India claims. Eg. Two counties in Hotan covering parts of Aksai Chin (December 2024).
    3. Undemarcated boundary: The LAC has never been jointly marked on the ground, so rival maps can claim the same ridges and valleys.
    4. Fragile thaw: Public sparring over sovereignty can stall the trade, travel and talks restored since the 2024 meeting.

    Way Forward

    1. Boundary Expert Group: Use the Expert Group on delimitation and demarcation, set up in 2025, to narrow differences sector by sector.
    2. Early harvest: Seek an “early harvest”, a first partial deal, on the boundary in the largely undisputed Middle Sector to build trust.
    3. Measured rebuttals: Keep India’s responses factual and routed through the MEA, so naming spats do not derail restored dialogue.
    4. Presence on the ground: Continue roads and habitation in eastern Ladakh, so administration on the ground matches the official map.

    Conclusion

    India and China have kept their thaw intact, but each now uses the map to restate claims the other will not concede. Whether the revived boundary mechanisms can move from managing incidents to settling the western sector is the test to watch.

    Back2Basics: Line of Actual Control (LAC)

    1. What it is: The 3,488 km de facto line separating Indian and Chinese held territory, which has never been jointly demarcated.
    2. Western Sector (Ladakh): India relies on the Johnson Line (1865), and China claims the Macartney-MacDonald Line (1899).
    3. Aksai Chin: China occupies about 38,000 sq km of Aksai Chin, which India counts as part of Ladakh.
    4. Middle and Eastern Sectors: The Middle Sector (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) is largely undisputed. In the Eastern Sector the LAC follows the McMahon Line of the Simla Convention (1914).

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026, GS3, 10 marks] Ladakh is strategically located between China and Pakistan. As a measure to win hearts and minds of locals, discuss the Border Area Development Programmes (BADP) by the Central Government and civic actions by the Army. Also discuss demand of promulgation of provision of the Sixth Schedule of constitution for Ladakh.”

  • The only path to lasting peace is one state of Israel-Palestine

    Why in the News

    The Green Party of England and Wales has become the first mainstream Western party to call for “a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine”, a one state solution. It revives the case that the two state solution, the basis of diplomacy including India’s, is dead, and that only one shared state can bring lasting peace.

    What is the two state solution, and what is proposed instead?

    1. Two state solution: A Palestinian state would sit beside Israel on the borders before the 1967 Six-Day War, like splitting a disputed house into two flats. The Oslo Accords (1993) made it the basis of talks.
    2. One state solution: A single secular, democratic state across historic Palestine, with Israelis and Palestinians as equal citizens.
    3. Green Party resolution: The party, with only five MPs, also declared Zionism, the movement for a Jewish homeland, a form of racism. Jewish groups called it antisemitic.
    4. Israel’s response: Israel said the party legitimises terrorism and barred its Jewish leader from entry.
    5. The takeaway: One state has entered mainstream Western politics just as support for two states is collapsing.

    Why is the two state solution called dead?

    1. Israeli leadership: Israel’s Prime Minister says Israeli security leaves no room for Palestinian sovereignty. This states openly the outcome 30 years of policy produced.
    2. No opposition mandate: With elections imminent, Israel’s opposition offers no clear mandate for Palestinian statehood.
    3. Collapsing public support: Israeli backing for two states has fallen to 17% in recent Pew surveys, after the October 7 Hamas attack and Israel’s retaliation on Gaza.
    4. Fragmented West Bank: Thirty years of hilltop settlements, military outposts and fences have broken the West Bank into a patchwork that cannot hold a state with a sustainable economy.
    5. Settlers cannot be moved: Moving about 750,000 Israeli settlers back within Israel’s legal borders is close to impossible.

    Can Israelis and Palestinians share one state?

    1. Cost of occupation: Israel cannot occupy Gaza indefinitely, and occupation makes it a global pariah. Weakening Hamas militarily does not end the humiliation and despair that feed militancy.
    2. Sceptics’ objection: Decades of trauma divide the two peoples too deeply to share one country.
    3. Choice for both peoples: Israelis face an armed, hostile neighbour or integration with 5.5 million Palestinians. Palestinians face a hope of their own country or equal rights in a prosperous state.
    4. Arab citizens of Israel: About 2 million Arab citizens already live in Israel fairly peacefully, but as second class citizens.
    5. Zionism’s founders: Theodor Herzl, founder of political Zionism, imagined in his 1902 novel Altneuland (“Old New Land”) a secular state where Arab citizens voted and sat in parliament.

    What do other divided societies show?

    1. Belgium: A constitutional framework guaranteeing protections for each group holds its linguistic and cultural divisions together.
    2. Northern Ireland: After decades of sectarian violence, former enemies share power in a system overseen by Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
    3. South Africa, Bosnia and Lebanon: These arrangements are imperfect, and fragile in Lebanon. They still show shared governance works better than endless war.

    Challenges

    1. Demographic fear: Israeli Jews fear being outnumbered, so few Israeli parties will campaign for one state.
    2. Law that privileges one people: Israeli law defines the state by Jewish identity. Eg. The Basic Law on the Nation State (2018).
    3. Fragile power sharing: Shared rule can freeze divisions. Eg. Lebanon’s confessional system repeatedly paralyses government.

    Way Forward

    1. Guaranteed group safeguards: Write protections for each community, underwritten by foreign powers both sides accept.
    2. Green resolution as catalyst: Use it to build consensus on one state offering peace, dignity and equal rights.
    3. India’s lead: India’s historic support for Palestinian rights outlasts its recent tilt towards Israel. It can lead on one state and regain a central place in multilateral diplomacy.

    Conclusion

    The two state framework has lost its political base in Israel and its territorial base on the ground, yet no government backs one shared state. Whether a government, India included, adopts the idea beyond a minor party’s resolution will decide if it enters diplomacy.

    India and the Israel-Palestine Question

    1. Early recognition: India was the first non Arab country to recognise Palestine, in 1988, and treated the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as its people’s sole legitimate representative.
    2. De-hyphenation: India opened full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992 and keeps independent ties with both sides.
    3. Stated position: India backs “a sovereign, independent Palestine coexisting with Israel” and funds West Bank schools and IT centres under the India-Palestine Development Partnership.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2018] The term “two-state solution” is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of (a) China (b) Israel (c) Iraq (d) Yemen ANSWER: (b)”

  • The other G2, and three lessons for India

    Why in the News

    US President Donald Trump has allowed imports of Russian diesel until April 2027, after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Weeks earlier he had signed a law allowing tariffs of up to 100% on countries such as India that buy Russian oil. The move revives a second “G2”, a US-Russia accommodation India has fewer reasons to fear than a US-China one.

    What is the “other G2”, and why has diesel revived it?

    1. What it is: G2 means two great powers settling major questions between themselves, like two dominant shareholders running a company. India fears a US-China G2 dominating Asia.
    2. The other G2: A US-Russia strategic accommodation is the second possibility.
    3. Domestic trigger: With diesel above $6 a gallon and inflation hanging over the 3 November congressional elections, cheaper fuel for farmers and truckers is an urgent priority in Washington.
    4. Exemption for itself: Having carved out a diesel exemption for itself, Washington may hesitate to impose fresh oil sanctions on India.
    5. The takeaway: US domestic needs can soften its Russia policy, which can reduce the friction India’s Russian partnership creates with Washington.

    How has Washington pursued a thaw with Moscow?

    1. First term record: Trump pressed for Russia’s return to the G8, which suspended it after the 2014 annexation of Crimea. At Helsinki in 2018 he resisted calling Russia an adversary.
    2. Second term outreach: Talks in Riyadh in February 2025 reopened high level engagement. Russia’s investment envoy then offered openings in energy, Arctic development and minerals.
    3. Summits so far: The Alaska summit of August 2025 failed to end the war, and US envoys met Putin in Moscow last month.
    4. Meetings ahead: The two may meet at the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, possibly with China’s President. Moscow has yet to accept an invitation to December’s G20 summit in Miami.

    What does each side want, and what stands in the way?

    1. Commerce first: Trump wants economic cooperation to open a path to peace rather than follow a settlement, betting that profitable ventures soften political antagonism.
    2. Putin’s incentives: Sanctions relief brings revenue, investment and technology, and engagement restores standing and reduces dependence on China. A settlement recognising territorial gains would let him claim victory.
    3. US domestic resistance: If Democrats regain Congress, or even the House, they could use investigations, sanctions laws and spending control to obstruct a rapprochement. Republican opposition to concessions adds a constraint.
    4. Ukraine and Europe: Ukraine will resist a bargain that rewards invasion. Europeans fear a deal could leave them exposed to Russian assertion.

    What three lessons follow for India?

    1. Fluid great power ties: A US-Russia thaw could ease American pressure on India’s Russian energy purchases and defence ties, so Delhi should weigh its opportunities as carefully as its costs.
    2. No ideological obligation: Moscow does not treat confrontation with Washington as an ideological duty, and values engagement with it as a great power peer. Eg. In the early 1990s, its eagerness for US ties pushed India down its priorities.
    3. Europe’s weight: India’s trade, technology, investment and defence stakes in Europe have risen, and Russia’s confrontation with Europe could outlast any US-Russia deal.

    Challenges

    1. Russia-China closeness: Russia’s “no limits” partnership with China limits its neutrality in India-China disputes.
    2. Payment hurdles: Western sanctions complicate settling India-Russia trade. Eg. Over $40 billion in rupees stuck in Russian banks’ Vostro accounts.
    3. The Ukraine dilemma: India must balance US partnership expectations, ties with Moscow and distance from a Sino-Russian axis.

    Way Forward

    1. Contribute to Ukraine peace: Delhi should help wherever it can.
    2. Russia-Europe dialogue: Encourage direct talks between Russia and Europe on ending the war and on a lasting European and Eurasian security order.
    3. Rupee reinvestment: Encourage Russia to reinvest its rupee surplus in Indian infrastructure to balance trade.

    Conclusion

    A US-Russia accommodation would meet only part of India’s needs, because Europe’s security, where India’s stake is now larger, would stay unsettled. Another meeting of the two Presidents and the US Congress’s response are the markers to watch.

    About India-Russia Relations

    1. Strategic partnership: Ties were elevated to a “special and privileged strategic partnership” in 2010.
    2. Defence dependence: Russia’s share of Indian arms imports fell from 70% to under 45% in a decade, but it remains India’s largest defence partner.
    3. Trade: Bilateral trade crossed $68 billion in 2025, driven by oil, defence and fertilisers.
    4. Trade target: The latest annual summit set a goal of $100 billion in trade by 2030.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2025, GS2, 10 marks] With the waning of globalization, post-Cold War world is becoming a site of sovereign nationalism. Elucidate.”

  • India-U.S. ties and the hurdle of American unilateralism

    India-U.S. ties and the hurdle of American unilateralism

    Why in the News

    The United States has suspended the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for eight global IT companies, including Indian ones, accusing them of misusing immigration and labour certification systems. It is one of a series of unilateral US actions now straining India-US ties.

    What is the PERM programme, and why does its suspension hurt India?

    1. What it is: PERM lets US companies hire non-US professionals. It is a step in an employer sponsored green card (US permanent residence) application, like an employer vouching for a foreign worker.
    2. Firms named: They include Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Cognizant and HCL.
    3. Scale of use: The US says the eight firms received over 2,30,000 H-1B approvals (temporary skilled work visas) and over 1,00,000 labour certifications.
    4. Indian stake: Indians account for over 70% of approved H-1B petitions each year.
    5. The takeaway: The suspension follows ill treatment of and racist attacks on Indians, so India sees a pattern of US action, not an isolated incident.

    Why has trade become a visible source of discord?

    1. Trade surplus: India sold $33.8 billion more to the US than it bought, on bilateral trade above $140 billion last financial year.
    2. Farm and dairy access: The US wants access to India’s dairy and agriculture sectors, which India cannot concede.
    3. Russian oil: India has refused to halt Russian oil imports even after additional US tariffs and sanctions.
    4. Stalled interim deal: An interim trade framework announced in February 2026 has stalled, and the Finance Minister says talks have “plateaued”.

    Why has the defence partnership not delivered co-production?

    1. Purchases without transfer: India has acquired over $22 billion of US military hardware since 2002, but co-production and technology transfer, the US sharing how to build the equipment, remain elusive.
    2. Commitments made: In February 2025 the US agreed to co-produce Javelin anti tank missiles and Stryker combat vehicles in India.
    3. Ten year framework: The two countries signed a Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership in October 2025.
    4. Engine delays: Delayed GE F404 engines for the Tejas fighter show the cost of relying on foreign suppliers.
    5. INDUS-X: The India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), launched in 2023, has yet to deliver co-development.

    Why do Pakistan and technology deepen the distrust?

    1. Mediation claims: The US President’s repeated claims that he ended the India-Pakistan conflict after Operation Sindoor (May 2025) have irked India.
    2. Courting Pakistan’s military: Washington’s courting of Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces is a major irritant.
    3. Mecca Pact: This pact of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye, reportedly blessed by Washington, worries India.
    4. Nuclear promise unmet: The 2008 India-US civil nuclear agreement promised US designed reactors in India, a promise still largely unrealised.
    5. Technology on paper: The Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) of 2023 and the Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology (TRUST) initiative of February 2025 remain largely declarations.

    Is this a difficult phase or a structural problem?

    1. Restraint met with pressure: India’s strategic restraint increasingly meets US pressure and disregard for Indian interests.
    2. A lonelier power: The External Affairs Minister has observed that the US is “deliberately becoming a lonelier power”.

    Challenges

    1. Visa restrictions: Tighter US immigration rules erode Indian IT firms’ competitiveness. Eg. A $100,000 H-1B visa fee.
    2. Autonomy against convergence: India’s ties with Russia and Iran clash with US expectations. Eg. US sanction threats over India’s S-400 purchase.
    3. Sanctions on connectivity: US sanctions on Iran hamper Indian projects such as Chabahar Port.

    Way Forward

    1. Full trade agreement: Convert the interim framework into a comprehensive trade agreement that shields farm and dairy lines.
    2. Security of supply pacts: Insulate technology transfer from political shifts through long term Security of Supply Arrangements, pacts for priority defence supplies.
    3. Totalisation agreement: Sign a social security pact so Indian professionals in the US do not pay into a system they cannot draw from.

    Conclusion

    The India-US partnership has widened on paper, but each unilateral US step weakens Indian confidence in what is signed. Delivery of the stalled trade deal and the defence co-production commitments will show if the relationship can rest on equality rather than imposition.

    Bilateral Initiatives in India-US Relations

    1. Foundational agreements: Four defence pacts let the two militaries protect shared information, use each other’s logistics, communicate securely and share geospatial data.
    2. STA-1 status: Since 2018, Strategic Trade Authorisation Tier 1 eases Indian access to US high technology items.
    3. COMPACT: The 2025 Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology initiative launched Mission 500, targeting $500 billion in trade by 2030.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2020, GS2, 15 marks] What is the significance of Indo-US defence deals over Indo-Russian defence deals? Discuss with reference to stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

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