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Background

1. Aadhaar is a 12 digit number issued by the UIDAI to the residents of India
2. It does not confer the right of citizenship or domicile to the holder.
3. Aadhaar is proof of identity, residence and financial address for its residents.
4. Aadhaar has been making inroads in all spheres of life and almost all government and private services require Aadhaar linking. In this situation, there are arguments going on about whether to make Aadhaar mandatory or not

Arguments for mandatory Aadhaar

1. As social security number is for US citizens, Aadhaar is to Indian residents. The former was successful in providing services and improved lives of Americans. Aadhaar also has the potential to do the same.
2. Aadhaar replaces the multitude of ID proofs and documents and becomes a sole identity proof. Thus reducing delays in governance.
3. Aadhaar also helping employers reducing the hiring process and time. Thus saving a lot of time and money.
4. Government is planning to link Aadhaar to financial market transactions to curb practices such as the conversion of black money into white through the stock market.
5. It will save the government hefty amount of subsidies as it is easy to identify the fake beneficiaries, better targeting and reduce leakages in the distribution.
6. Aadhaar also acts as the financial address which enables easy remittance of benefits to intended beneficiaries (Direct benefit transfer).
7. It enables monitoring of attendance of government employees = better governance and efficiency.
8. Can erase the possibility of using fake IDs by terrorists.
9. Aadhaar makes various processes easier and faster such as e-filing of income tax returns, getting passports, opening bank accounts, getting pension money, provident fund disbursement, LPG and other subsidies.
10. Linking Aadhaar with voter card will eliminate bogus voters thus electing the right government and improve democracy.

Arguments against mandatory Aadhaar

1. Making Aadhaar mandatory may lead to misuse of personal information and surveillance by the state thus taking away privacy.
2. It has the potential to profile individuals such as determining the behavioural pattern of a person using big data analytics.
3. Aadhaar law does not restrict the government to impose identification in any other context not mentioned in the law.
4. A person whose information got breached has no remedy at his/her disposal since no court shall take cognizance of any offence except on a complaint made by the UIDAI.
5. There is no independent oversight mechanism or limitations of surveillance.
6. Due to connectivity and other issues, the failure rate of Aadhaar authentication stands at 30% which is quite a huge number, considering the population of the country. This leads to exclusion from availing benefits.
7. Data is considered as new oil by companies and they want to cash in on the business and get profits.
8. Students in government-funded schools without Aadhaar are increasingly being denied their rightful meal under Mid-day meal scheme.
9. The supreme court directed UIDAI in 2015 that Aadhaar cannot be used anywhere except PDS and LPG distribution, NREGA, social security pension, provident fund and Jan Dhan Yojana and that too voluntary in nature.

Way forward

1. In its enthusiasm to aggregate data in electronic form and target subsidies better, the government cannot reject its responsibility to protect citizens from the cyber threats.
2. It is imperative for the Union Government to enact a privacy legislation that clearly defines the rights of citizens and it should be consistent with the provision of the Constitution.
3. The government should consider the privacy risks and include procedures and systems to protect citizen information in any system of data collection.
4. Our national cyber cell should be made well capable of promptly dealing with any cyber-attack.
5. We need to awareness among people on the risks involved and highlight examples of ID thefts and fraud.
6. Aadhaar is making inroads in all walks of life. Rather than just arguing whether it should be mandatory or not, we should give it an opportunity to improve the governance and service delivery of the government. However, there should be effective safeguards as well for protecting the privacy of the people enrolled in Aadhaar

Basic Terms (not asked directly in exam but its good to have some level of basic understanding about these )

1. Atom:

• It is the fundamental constituent of matter.
• It is made up of three tiny subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
• The protons(positively charged) and the neutrons(no charge) make up the center of the atom called the nucleus and the electrons(negatively charged) fly around above the nucleus in a small cloud.

2. Isotopes:

• Atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons
• Unstable nuclei give off radiation so as to become stable. Isotopes of such atoms are called radioactive isotopes

3. Radioactive Decay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYDil96NR5Q

• It is the process by which an unstable nucleus emits elementary particles(alpha, beta, gamma rays) in the form of radiation.
• The instability is caused by either an excess of protons or an excess of neutrons. As the atom attempts to become stable, it releases energy and matter in the form of radiation
• Half-life refers to the time for half the radioactive nuclei in any atom to undergo radioactive decay.

 

4. Types of Nuclear Reactions

4a. Nuclear Fission:

• A heavy nucleus splits into 2 smaller nuclei.
• How does it happen? The stability of the nucleus is maintained by the balance between the repulsive forces of the protons and the nuclear attractive/binding force. During fission, the repulsive forces become dominant over the binding force in the unstable nucleus.

4b. Nuclear Fusion

• Two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus
• The sum of the masses of the product nuclei is less than the sum of the masses of the initial fusing nuclei. Therefore, a large amount of energy is released

 

Types of Nuclear Materials

 

S NO.	MATERIAL	DESCRIPTION
1	Deuterium	Stable, naturally occurring isotope of hydrogen Consists of one proton and one neutron Also called Heavy Hydrogen
2	Tritium	Not found naturally. Produced in fission reactors by bombarding lithium with high energy neutrons Rare form of hydrogen isotope. Consists of one proton and two neutrons
3	Plutonium	Not naturally occurring. Produced through the absorption of neutrons by Uranium-238 in a nuclear reactor. A reprocessing plant is needed to bring plutonium into a usable form
4	Uranium	Naturally occurring deposit that contains 99.28% Uranium-238, 0.72% Uranium-235 and 0.0057% Uranium-234 SInce it is radioactive, it constantly emits particles and changes into other elements

 

5. Uranium Enrichment

• Natural uranium consists of nearly 99% U-238 and only around 0.7% of U-235
• U-235 is a fissile material that can sustain a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor.

Therefore, we need more U-235

• Enrichment process increases the proportion of U-235 through the process of isotope separation(U-238 is separated from U-235). Isotope separation is possible due to the mass difference between U-238 and U-235
• For nuclear weapons, enrichment is required upto 90% or more which is known as Highly Enriched Uranium/weapons-grade uranium
• For nuclear reactors, enrichment is required upto 3-4% which is known as Low Enriched Uranium/reactor-grade uranium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl_E3aIL7G0

6. Methods of Uranium Enrichment

a) Gaseous Diffusion

• Pump UF6 through pipelines
• Force the gas through a porous filter or membrane
• Repeat the diffusion process until enough U-235 is collected
• Once the gas is enriched, UF6 is condensed into a liquid and stored in containers, where it cools and solidifies into fuel pellets

b) Gas Centrifuge Process

• Assemble a number of high speed rotating cylinders
• Pipe the UF6 gas into the centrifuge
• As the centrifuge rotates, the centrifugal force sends the heavier U-238 to the cylinder wall and lighter U-235 to the centre
• Extract the separated gases and reprocess the gases in separate centrifuges

c) Aerodynamic Separation Process

• Build a series of stationary narrow cylinders
• A mixture of gaseous UF6 and helium(H2) is compressed and directed along a curved wall at high velocity
• The heavier U-238 molecules move out to the wall relative to the U-235 molecules
• At the end of the deflection, the gas jet is split by a knife edge into a light fraction and a heavy fraction

d) Liquid Thermal Diffusion Process

• Liquify UF6 gas under pressure
• Construct a pair of concentric pipes
• Surround the pipes with a jacket of liquid water. This will cool the outer pipe
• Pump UF6 between the pipes
• Heat the inner pipe with steam. This will create a convection current in the UF6 that will push heavier U-238 isotope towards the colder outer pipe and draw the lighter U-235 isotope towards the hotter inner pipe

e) Electromagnetic Isotope Separation

• Ionize the UF6 gas i.e. give the atoms of UF6 an electric charge
• Pass the gas through a strong magnetic field
• The U-238 atoms are less deflected relative to the U-235 atoms.
• This results in two streams that could be collected by different receivers

f) Molecular Laser Isotope Separation

• UF6 gas is excited by an infrared laser system that selectively excites only those UF6 molecules that contain U-235. The other UF6 molecules that contain U-238 are untouched
• In the second stage, photons from a second laser system dissociate excited UF6 molecules to form Uranium Pentafluoride(UF5) that contain U-235 and free fluorine atoms

6. Components of Nuclear Reactor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U6Nzcv9Vws

No.	Component	Description
1	Fuel	Pellets of Uranium Oxide(UO2) arranged in tubes to form fuel rods
2	Moderator	Slows down the neutrons released from fission reaction so that they cause more fission. Usually liquid water, heavy water or graphite
3	Control Rods	Made up of neutron-absorbing materials such as Boron or Cadmium. They are inserted or withdrawn from the core to control or halt the rate of reaction
4	Coolant	A liquid or a gas that cools the reactor core or transfers heat from the core to the heat exchanger
5	Heat Exchanger	Uses the heat from the reactor to convert water into steam
6	Containment System	To protect the pressure vessel from outside intrusion and also to protect those outside from any radiations Usually thick concrete or steel is used

 

Critical Mass: The smallest amount of fissile material needed to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.Criticality: It refers to the balance of neutrons in the system

1. Sub-critical: The number of neutrons produced as a result of the fission reaction is less than the number of neutrons lost in the reaction
2. Supercritical: The number of neutrons produced is greater than the number of neutrons lost
3. Critical: The number of neutrons produced is equal to the number of neutrons lost. A balance is maintained.

 

7. Applications of Nuclear technology

• Radioactive Dating: The technique of comparing the abundance ratio of a radioactive isotope to a reference isotope to determine the age of a material

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phZeE7Att_s

• Nuclear Medicine: Radiation is used to provide information about the functioning of a person’s specific organs or to treat diseases
• Nuclear Agriculture: Radiation is used for crop improvement food preservation by irradiation, to develop new plant types etc.
• Gamma Ray Techniques: Scattering of gamma rays can be used to determine the concentration of an element in minerals such as ash content in coal
• Water Management: Activities such as artificial recharge of groundwater system, flow measurements in rivers etc. can be undertaken

 

 

1. Missiles and Missile Defence Systems

There are 2 kinds of Missiles, Ballistic and Cruise.

Ballistic Missiles	Cruise Missiles
It follows a ballistic trajectory with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target.	It is a guided missile that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed.
Target is predetermined. Fit for large targets.	Target can be mobile. More appropriate for small mobile targets.
Guided only during relatively brief periods of flight and the rest of its trajectory is unpowered and governed by gravity.	Are self-navigating
High altitude. Easy to track	Able to fly in extremely low-altitude trajectory. Makes it difficult to track

 

The speed of Missiles are measured in Mach Number.

Mach Number = Object Speed/Speed of Sound.

 

The following is a very comprehensive chart describing the various kinds of classifications that exist of missiles.

 

 

Integrated Guided Missile Development Program(IGMDP)

Timeline of India’s Missile Development Program

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/timeline-of-indias-missile-development-programme/article18708216.ece

 

Ballistic Missile Defence

A 2-tier system, being developed by DRDO, that provides a multi-layered shield against ballistic missile attacks.

 

Surveillance Technologies 

NETRA – It is a first indigenously developed airborne early warning and control system (AEW&C), mounted on a Brazilian Embraer-145, developed by Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

• AEW&C is also called eye-in-the-sky which is capable of long-range surveillance and a force multiplier.
• India is only 4th such nation after United States, Russia and Israel that have such technology on their own.

Important features of NETRA are:
• Range of 200 kms (Capability to detect aerial threats from incoming aircraft and missiles).
• 240 degrees coverage (simultaneously scan the area on both sides of aircraft)
• State of the art active electronically scanned radar and Secondary surveillance radar.
• Electronic and communication counter measures.
• Line of sight and beyond line of sight data link.
• Voice communication system and self-protection suit.

 

Rustom-2 – Rustom-2 is medium-altitude long-endurance drone (MALE) designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the DRDO, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics.

• It can fly up to an altitude of 22,000 feet and has endurance of over 20 hours.

• It can carry variety of payloads like Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Communication Intelligence (COMINT) and Situational Awareness Payloads (SAP) for performing missions even during the night.

• It will be used by all three services of Indian armed forces, primarily for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.

• Rustom 2 can fly missions on manual as well as autonomous modes.

 

2. NAVY SHIPS 

Submarines 

 

Very good article on how ships are named

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/indian-navy-ships-submarine-names-ins-chennai-4618680/

 

3. Aeronautical Mechanisms

 

4. Armaments

 

 

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

Ministry of Defence

The primary responsibility is to counter insurgency and ensure external security of India.

• It comprises of 4 departments:
  • Dept. of Defence: It deals with the three services(Army, Air Force, Navy & Coast Guard) and various Inter-Service Organisations
  • Dept. of Defence Production: It deals with framing of policy directions on defence and security related matters and communicating them for implementation to Service Headquarters and other organisations
  • Dept. of Defence Research and Development: It advises the Govt. on scientific aspects of military equipment and logistics
  • Dept. of Ex-Servicemen Welfare: It deals with resettlement, welfare and pensionary matters of Ex-Servicemen

 

Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO)

• Design, develop and lead to production of state-of-the-art sensors, weapon systems, platforms and allied equipment for our Defence Services.
• Provide technological solutions to the Services to optimise combat effectiveness and to promote well-being of the troops.
• Develop infrastructure and committed quality manpower and build strong indigenous technology base.
• It works under the Dept. of Defence Research and Development

 

Defence Production

1. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL)

• It is engaged in the design, development, manufacture, repair and overhaul of aircrafts, helicopters engines and their accessories
• It is responsible for the development of Dhruv, an Advanced Light Helicopter(ALH)

2. Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL)

• It is engaged in the design, development and manufacture of state-of-the-art electronics equipment components for the use of Defence Services

3. Mazagon Dock Limited(MDL)

• It is the premier defence shipyard in the country located in Mumbai.
• It is engaged in the production of warships, submarines, missile boats, destroyers etc.
• Scorpene-class Submarines are being developed here under the Project 75I. Other defence production units include Bharat Earth Movers Ltd., Goa Shipyard Ltd., Bharat Dynamics Ltd. etc.

Why in news?

Lok Sabha has passed The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017 to abolish the ‘no detention policy’ in schools.

Key Features of Bill

• The Bill amends provision related to no detention policy in the parent Act to empower central or state government to allow schools to hold back child in class 5, class 8, or in both classes.
• It mandates conducting, regular examination in class 5 and class 8 at end of every academic year.
• In case, the child fails class 5, class 8 examinations, he will be given additional instruction and opportunity for a re-examination (within two months from the declaration of the result). If the child fails again in re-examination, he may be held back in class 5, class 8, or in both classes.
• The Bill empowers Union and State governments to decide whether to not hold back the child in any class till completion of elementary education. Further, Union or State governments will decide manner and conditions subject to which child may be held back.

What is ‘No-Detention’ policy?

• As per the No-Detention Policy under the Right to Education Act, no student can be failed or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education covering classes 1 to 8. All the students up till Class 8 will automatically be promoted to the next class.
• The essence of the policy is that children should not be ‘failed’ and detained up to Class 8. There are no “examinations” in the narrow traditional sense of the word up to Class 8. Instead, the Act mandates a process of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to assess and evaluate the student’s learning.

Reasons why ‘no-detention policy’ is criticized

• Negative impact on the standard of education: Most of the schools in interior places are running without any teachers. Hence, if the ‘no-detention policy’ continues, it will leave a negative impact on the standard of education in India and force the children to face more harsh future.
• No reward for hard work: This policy has led to students developing a lackadaisical attitude, with there being no risk of failing. It also makes no distinction between good and bad students, and between those who work hard and those who don’t. Thus, it makes no effective way to implement a good level of teaching and learning.
• Apathy from teachers: With the policy in place, the Education Department does not take steps to revamp itself and the teachers do not take the pain to ensure a good education for the children.
• Dark future of students: Students coming from poor economic background face problem in their coming life because of no good education in the schools.
• Will affect the women empowerment programs: The girls especially will face a major problem if not getting a proper education in the schools.
• Zero academic outcomes: If no merit is checked while giving promotion to another class, the children will never learn the importance of studying and acquiring knowledge. It will lead to a poor academic outcome in classes.

Reasons why ‘no-detention policy’ is supported

• Detention policy doesn’t guarantee improvement in quality of education as long as exams can be passed by mugging the content. Exams should assess the overall development of students.
• Will increase drop-out ratio: Detention policy will increase the number of drop outs. Drop outs percentage was 10% in 2005-06 academic year, whereas it was 4% in 2015-16 academic year. The major reason for this success can be attributed to no-detention policy.
• No-detention policy is not the only villain: The reason for the lack of quality education in India is not just no-detention policy, many schools in India do not have qualified teachers, basic facilities and infrastructure. Teachers retraining at regular intervals is not followed at all. All these things results in the decreasing quality of education. Punishing children for this by not promoting them to the next class will be our society’s failure.
• Detention policy will create stress in students: Many private schools put too much pressure on students to get good grades so that they can market their schools by showing off their ranks and marks. We are witnessing student suicides as a result of this pressure. Children of primary schools will also have to undergo this stress due to detention policy.

Will scrapping the no-detention policy solve all problems?

• Flawed teachers’ training (the eye of many scams), social indifference to the plight of school teachers, rampant use of ad hoc teachers in small towns and villages, etc. have all substantively contributed to a failing school system. Only scrapping the policy is not going to drastically improve the standard of education in the country.
• According to some educationists, the policy was wrongly interpreted to create an environment in which the significance of evaluating a school-goer’s learning outcome was undermined.
• Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), that aimed to assess the child’s understanding of what was being taught in class at periodic intervals, proved to be a non-starter in many schools. The policy alone cannot be blamed for poor results.
• The teachers were not given adequate training to undertake this reform. They had no idea of what was to be evaluated, and how. In several schools, CCE was reduced to “project work”, which parents resented. The RTE’s provisions regarding the upgrading of school infrastructure and an increase in the teacher-student ratio — that would have created an enabling environment for the policy — were given a short shrift. Hence, the poor performance can be linked to a variety of other factors rather than just the no detention policy.

Way ahead

The phenomenon of poor learning outcomes is the product of many factors which influence learning and should not be conveniently pinned to the door of the no-detention policy. The steps that can be taken to improve learning outcomes can be:

• measuring learning level outcomes of all children on a regular basis,
• catalysing a “performance-driven culture” and rewarding high performers at every level,
• changing stakeholders’ mindset and preparing them for new provisions, in which parents were made responsible or accountable for full attendance of their children.
• The policy should be implemented in a phased manner and a scale-up to all classes should be undertaken only after the critical infrastructural, teacher strength and teachers’ skill-set requirements were fully met.

Conclusion

• Rather than addressing the core issues that affect the quality of education in the country, the entire focus seems to be shifting to bring back the pass/fail model.
• A greater level of seriousness on all sides is the need of the hour. It is high time steps are taken to remove the other flaws that exist.
• Hence, the policy should either be renovated with adequate changes to neutralize the ill effects or replaced with a new policy that would take a balanced approach. The prime objective should be to effect an all-round development of children and equipping them with life skills.

Context

• President Ram Nath Kovind’s choice of Vietnam as the first Southeast Asian country to visit in his capacity as the President is not surprising. A close ‘ally’ of India for over 70 years, and not limited to official diplomatic ties, Vietnam is critical for India’s foreign policy at the regional and systemic levels.

Background

• Bilateral ties between India and Vietnam have strengthened in recent years with a focus on regional security issues and trade. Mutual trust, threats emerging from a rising China and a convergence of strategic interests have contributed to the deepening of ties between the two nations to an extent that Vietnam now engages India at the level of a ‘comprehensive strategic partner’,  which is a clear indication of importance both the nations put in this critical partnership.
• There has been a rapid institutionalisation of this bilateral partnership. The two states promulgated a Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation in 2003 in which they envisaged creating an “Arc of Advantage and Prosperity” in Southeast Asia and have initiated a strategic dialogue since 2009.

Points of Convergence and Cooperation

• One of the most significant drivers of the deepening strategic partnership between India and Vietnam is their shared apprehension of an aggressive China. This growing assertiveness of China is slowly transforming into the build-up of weapons systems, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, in the artificial islands in the South-China Sea, which is clearly a major concern for both the nations.
• In Vietnam, China’s growing assertiveness is a matter of direct security concern, while India has been closely scrutinizing with apprehension China’s maritime expansion into the Indian Ocean Region.
• In the South China Sea and the Eastern Pacific, India is gradually treating Vietnam just as China views Pakistan in South Asia: as a strategic heft. Indian strategists had for long suggested that New Delhi should leverage Vietnam’s conflicts with Beijing to her advantage.
• Ever since the two countries signed a Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership in November 2007, raising their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership, India-Vietnam security cooperation has accelerated.
• It has provided Vietnam with a $100 million concessional line of credit for the procurement of defence equipment. And, in a first of its kind sale, it sold four offshore patrol vessels to Vietnam that are likely to be used to strengthen the country’s defences in the energy-rich South China Sea.
• In August 2017 Vietnam indicated it had bought Brahmos anti-ship cruise missiles, a weapon the country has long cherished, from India. India, however, claimed that the reports about the deal were “incorrect.”  Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Hanoi is increasingly coming to be at the centre of India’s “Act East” policy.
• The two nations have a stake in ensuring the security of sea lanes, and share concerns about China’s access to the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Hence, India is helping Vietnam build its capacity for repair and maintenance of its defence platforms.
• At the same time, their armed forces have started cooperating in areas such as information technology and English-language training of Vietnamese army personnel. The two countries potentially share a common friend—the US.
• New Delhi has a burgeoning relationship with Washington, with the two sides signing a logistical support agreement this week, while Vietnam has been courting America as the South China Sea becomes a flashpoint. As the three countries ponder how to manage China’s rise, they have been drawn closer together.
• Finding compatibility between the ‘Indo-Asia-Pacific’ and the U.S. driven ‘Indo-Pacific’ necessitates a more nuanced approach whereby regional concerns of ASEAN centrality can be assuaged while accounting for diverse approaches to maintaining regional stability. In pursuance of this, the two countries have planned a bilateral level maritime security dialogue in early 2019.
• India is now among Vietnam’s top ten trading partners and during Modi’s 2016 visit, the two nations agreed to explore substantive and practical measures, like the Joint Sub-Commission on Trade, to achieve the trade target of US$15 billion by 2020.
• They also signed a civil nuclear agreement in 2016, which is expected to further boost bilateral trade between them. The two countries also expanded cooperation in areas such as space exploration and cyber security.
• An area of potential convergence for both Vietnam and India is health care. The 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in 2016, highlighted the importance of linking economic growth to universal health care, whereby 80% population would be covered by health insurance.
• With Indonesia ratifying the India-ASEAN Services agreement on November 13, New Delhi is a step closer to signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, bringing India to the forefront of the services sector globally. A potential area of convergence in the realm of health care through joint public-private partnership agreements can be explored by the two countries.
• Vietnam and India both looks at sub-regionalism and regionalism as priority avenues to pursue its foreign policy. The India-Vietnam Joint Statement of March 2018 reiterates the focus given to sub-regionalism and the Mekong Ganga Cooperation framework.
• However, another area is emerging in the CLV, or Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam growth triangle sub-regional cooperation, bringing these three countries together. India and Vietnam can jointly explore the potential for enhancing capacity building and providing technical assistance and training within this sub-regional grouping.

Why Vietnam is at the centre of India’s policy to counter China

• It is instructive that India entered the contested region of the South China Sea via Vietnam. India signed an agreement with Vietnam in October 2011 to expand and promote oil exploration in the South China Sea and stood by its decision despite China’s challenge to the legality of Indian presence.
• New Delhi was told it required Beijing’s permission for the Oil and Natural Gas Videsh Ltd. to explore the Vietnamese blocks 127 and 128 in those waters. But Vietnam cited the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to claim its sovereign right over the two blocks in question.
• Hanoi has been publicly sparring with Beijing over claims to the South China Sea for some years now, so such a response was expected.
• What was new, however, was New Delhi’s aggression in taking on China. It immediately supported Hanoi’s claims. By accepting the Vietnamese invitation to explore the two blocks, the Oil and Natural Gas Videsh Ltd. not only expressed India’s desire to deepen its friendship with Vietnam, but also ignored China’s warning to stay away. This display of strength stood India in good stead with Vietnam.
• If China wants to expand its presence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, the thinking in New Delhi goes, India can do the same thing in East Asia. If China can have a strategic partnership with Pakistan ignoring Indian concerns, India can develop robust ties with states on China’s periphery such as Vietnam without giving China a veto on such relationships.

President’s visit insight

• President Ramnath Kovind and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong agreed to effectively implement the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam—India Defence Cooperation for the period of 2015-2020.
• They agreed to step up cooperation in human resources training, and promote collaboration between the Army, Air Force, Naval and Coast Guard of the two countries, as well as cooperation in cyber security and information sharing.
• Vietnam appreciated India’s offer of the USD 500 million line of credit to defence industry.
• The two sides agreed to step up experience sharing in the training of personnel for participation in the UN peace-keeping operations and cooperation in addressing war legacies in Vietnam, and to strengthen criminal information exchange and law enforcement experience sharing.
• They agreed to actively support each other and step up coordination at multilateral defence and security cooperation frameworks.
• In the spirit of the proposal for an ASEAN-India Strategic Dialogue on maritime cooperation made at the commemorative summit held in New Delhi in January, they agreed to hold the first Maritime Security Dialogue on issues related to maritime domain and further encouraged port calls of each other’s naval and coast guard ships.
• India and Vietnam also agreed to continue promoting bilateral investment, including cooperation projects between Vietnam Oil and Gas Group PVN and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in oil and gas exploration on land, continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Vietnam.

The Way Forward

• In the coming 5 years, it can be expected that political relations get further cemented. This would also coincide with the completion of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
• But India needs to improve economic ties with Vietnam- the target that India and Vietnam have set up for 2020- that of $15 Billion is not very ambitious. Also, in the defence arena, India must help Vietnam inbuilding their own defence industry, and give them the defence systems that they need to maintain a balance in the South China Sea (SCS) region.
• In the next 5 years, the tri-lateral highway linking India, Myanmar, and Thailand would be ready. Further, the extension of this highway can potentially also open up a scenario where one could drive from Indian soil to Vietnam.
• Further, scholars have now been saying that with SAARC getting stalled, and with India defining its immediate neighbourhood with an eastward tilt, probably the time has come for BIMSTEC to consider extending itself to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Then it will be a very powerful body and lasting link between India and ASEAN.

Conclusion

• Based on the three legs of regional security, defence and trade engagements, India and Vietnam have managed to build a strong partnership over the last few years. Given their mutual convergence, it is likely that this relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years as well.
• This is a relationship that is poised to take off in the coming years, led by political leadership in the two countries determined to make this relationship truly “strategic” in orientation.
• While the ties have progressed under the Look East and Act East Policies, going forward they need to factor in pragmatism, helping relations to move forward. India’s ability to look beyond the prism of optics will remain a core challenge.