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Subject: Bilateral Relations

1. Major World Events
2. India’s Interests in neighbourhood
3. Effects of our Policies

  • Selective alignment to universal engagement of Indian diplomacy

    Context

    In 2021, Indian diplomacy was characterised by a readiness to deal with friends and foes alike.

    Challenges faced by India diplomacy in 2021

    • The US leadership change: Coping with the change from President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden and the consequent changes in U.S. policy were big enough to keep the world leaders on tenterhooks.
    • Pandemic:  With the increased onslaught of the pandemic, India suddenly became the epicentre of the tragedy.
    • The exposure of the inefficiency of India’s health system and put the country in the defensive and weakened its credibility as it tried to contribute to the resolution of global issues.
    • Aggression by China: For India, the biggest preoccupation of 2021 was the effort to get China to disengage in areas in Ladakh.
    • Dialogue, military preparedness and economic pressure met with limited success.
    • Afghanistan crisis: Afghanistan turned out to be a bigger crisis than expected, with the Taliban’s walkover in Kabul.
    • Bringing some civility to the Taliban in Kabul became a high priority in the face of a Pakistan-China-Taliban axis with some support from Russia and Iran.
    • Issue of permanent membership of the UN Security Council: Unprecedented in the history of the UN, an event at the Security Council was chaired by the Prime Minister.
    • Significant inputs were provided during discussions on issues like maritime security, peacekeeping and anti-terrorism for active consideration in the future.
    • Although it is illusory to believe that the way has been cleared for India’s permanent membership of the Security Council, India’s diplomatic capabilities and its commitment to the UN have demonstrated yet again.

    What marks the change in the style of Indian diplomacy?

    • From selective alignment, India moved to universal engagement, even to the extent of convening meetings with antagonists.
    • Engagements with the U.S. went beyond familiarisation with the new government to increased commitment to Quad and acceptance of AUKUS and formation of the ‘western Quad’, with the U.S., Israel and the UAE.
    • Engagement with Russia: Major agreements were signed with Russia, despite the American threat of CAATSA against S-400 missiles and the Russian inclination to align with China in the days to come.
    • The engagement with China at the level of commanders and diplomats was intense, and ministerial interaction continued even when China tore up many fundamental agreements that sustained the dialogue for many years.
    • Patience, diligence and firmness: India attended a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, where a sub-group led by China took its own decisions on Afghanistan.
    • We also attended a meeting of Russia, China and India.
    • Perhaps because of the unique geopolitical situation, India gave particular importance to its presidency of the UN Security Council in August 2021.
    • Engagement with Myanmar: The Foreign Secretary’s visit to Myanmar to engage the military junta at a time when opposition leaders are in prison may raise eyebrows in many countries, but this is another instance of India’s readiness to engage those in power to explore possibilities of friendship and co-operation.
    •  The intention is to prevent China from having a field day in Myanmar.

    Conclusion

    Sadly, the extraordinary efforts made by India have not been fruitful in the cases of China and Afghanistan.  But India’s new style of diplomacy will have an impact in shaping the world of the future.

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  • India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations, prisoners

    India and Pakistan has exchanged a list of their nuclear installations that cannot be attacked in case of an escalation in hostilities, as part of an annual ritual that has been in practice between the two neighbours for more than three decades.

    Non-Nuclear Aggression Agreement

    • The Non-nuclear aggression agreement is a bilateral and nuclear weapons control treaty between India and Pakistan, on the reduction (or limitation) of nuclear arms.
    • Both pledged not to attack or assist foreign powers to attack on each others nuclear installations and facilities.
    • The treaty was drafted in 1988, and signed by the PM Rajiv Gandhi and his counterpart Benazir Bhutto on 21 December 1988; it entered into force on January 1991.
    • The treaty barred its signatories to carry out a surprise attack (or to assist foreign power to attack) on each other’s nuclear installations and facilities.
    • Starting in January 1992, India and Pakistan have annually exchanged lists of their respective military and civilian nuclear-related facilities.

    Need for the treaty

    • In 1986-87, the massive exercise, ‘Brasstacks’ was carried out by the Indian Army, raising the fears of an Indian attack on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities.
    • Since then, the Foreign ministries of both countries had been negotiating to reach an understanding towards the control of nuclear weapons.

    Significance of the agreement

    • The treaty barred its signatories to carry out a surprise attack (or to assist foreign power to attack) on each other’s nuclear installations and facilities.
    • The treaty provides a confidence-building security measure environment.

    Other: Sharing of Prisoners information

    • Both nations do simultaneously share the list of prisoners in each others’ custody.
    • These lists are exchanged under the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access signed in May 2008.
    • Under this pact, the two countries should exchange comprehensive lists on January 1 and July 1 every year (i.e. twice a year).

     

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  • China issues ‘official’ names for 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh

    China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has issued standardized names for 15 places in the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh, to be used henceforth on official Chinese maps.

    MEA clarification

    • The Ministry of External Affairs has dismissed the Chinese “invention”.
    • Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be, an integral part of India, said MEA.

    Why is China giving names to places that are in India?

    • China claims some 90,000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory.
    • It calls the area “Zangnan” in the Chinese language and makes repeated references to “South Tibet”.
    • Chinese maps show Arunachal Pradesh as part of China, and sometimes parenthetically refer to it as “so-called Arunachal Pradesh”.
    • China makes periodic efforts to underline this unilateral claim to Indian territory.
    • Giving Chinese names to places in Arunachal Pradesh is part of that effort.

    Earlier unilateral renamings

    • This is the second lot of “standardized” names of places in Arunachal Pradesh that China has announced.
    • Earlier in 2017, it had issued “official” Chinese names for six places spanning the breadth of Arunachal Pradesh

    What is China’s argument for claiming these areas?

    • The PRC disputes the legal status of the McMahon Line, the official boundary under the ‘Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet’ — of 1914 (Simla Convention).
    • China was represented at the Simla Convention by a plenipotentiary of the Republic of China, which had been declared in 1912 after the Qing dynasty was overthrown.
    • The present communist government came to power only in 1949, when the People’s Republic was proclaimed.
    • The Chinese representative did not consent to the Simla Convention, saying Tibet had no independent authority to enter into international agreements.

    What is the McMohan Line?

    • The McMohan Line, named after Henry McMahon, the chief British negotiator at Shimla, was drawn from the eastern border of Bhutan to the Isu Razi pass on the China-Myanmar border.
    • China claims territory to the south of the McMahon Line, lying in Arunachal Pradesh.
    • China also bases its claims on the historical ties that have existed between the monasteries in Tawang and Lhasa.

    Intention behind these renamings

    • This renaming is a part of the Chinese strategy to assert its territorial claims over Indian territory.
    • As part of this strategy, China routinely issues statements of outrage whenever an Indian dignitary visits Arunachal Pradesh.
    • Beijing keeps harping on its “consistent” and “clear” position that the Indian possession of Arunachal Pradesh.
    • These claims have been firmly established and recognized by the world, as “illegal”.

    Arunachal not all-alone

    • Laying aggressive claims to territories on the basis of alleged historical injustices done to China is a part of Beijing’s foreign policy playbook.
    • The claim on Taiwan is one such example, as are the consistent efforts to change the “facts on the ground” in several disputed islands in the South China Sea.
    • The aggression is at all times backed in overt and covert ways by the use of China’s economic and military muscle.

    Also read:

    [RSTV Archive] India-China Ties Post-Galwan

     

  • [Burning Issue] Internet of Things (IoT)

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    Introduction

    The Internet of Things (IoT) can become a game-changer that India needs as this concept is set to disrupt almost every sector in India from smart cities and telecom to manufacturing and mobility. The rapid development in the IoT leads to the starting of the next digital revolution. However, the Internet of Things throws up many challenges like data safety and privacy. So India needs to push ahead with this concept to kick-start the radical development process with the proper regulatory framework in place to govern IoT.

    What is the Internet of Things?

    • IoT is the network of devices, vehicles, and home appliances that contain electronics, software, actuators, and connectivity which allows these things to connect, interact and exchange data.
    • IoT involves extending Internet connectivity beyond standard devices, such as desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets to everyday objects.
    • These objects may be anything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices.
    • It can also be components of machines, for example, a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig.
    • Embedded with technology, these devices can communicate and interact over the Internet, and they can be remotely monitored and controlled.
    • Thus, it is all about connecting devices over the internet and letting them ‘talk’ to us, applications, and each other.
    • However, the Internet of Things doesn’t necessarily have to be connected to the internet; it can also be a network of things.

    Advantages of IoT

    • Monitor Data: It helps us know the precise quantity of supplies or the air quality in home, it can also provide more data that could not have previously been possible to collect easily. For instance, monitoring the expiration of products will improve safety.
    • Ease of Access: Right now, one can easily gain the required information in real-time, from almost any location. It only takes a smart device and an internet connection. Example using Google Maps to see our location, instead of asking a person in real life.
    • Speedy Operation: All this data pouring in enables us to complete multiple tasks with amazing speed. For example, IoT makes automation effortless. Smart industries automate repetitive tasks, thus allowing employees to invest their time and effort into more challenging things.
    • Adapting to New Standards: As IoT is an ever-changing topic, its changes are minimal compared to the other techs of the high-tech world. Without IoT, it would be complicated for us to keep track of all the latest things.
    • Better Time Management: IoT is a clever time-saving tool. We can look up the latest news on our phones during our daily commute, or check a blog about our favourite pastime, purchase an item in an online shop, we can do almost all the things from the palm of our hands.
    • Automation and Control: Without human interference, the machines are communicating with each other providing faster and timely output.
    • Saving Money: Another main advantage of IoT is saving money. If the cost of the tagging and monitoring machines are less compared with the amount of money saved, this is the reason for the Internet of Things being very widely adopted.
    • Allowing the data to be communicated and shared between devices and then translating it into our required way, makes our systems efficient.

    Applications of Internet of Things

    (1) Daily Lives

    • There can be several IoT examples in our day-to-day lives.
    • For instance, a person returning home after his office hours can call his coffee-maker to make the coffee ready when he reaches home.
    • IoT can be used to water the plants of the garden whenever the moisture level falls below a certain limit.
    • We can utilize IoT to convert a normal home into a smart home. It can be used in energy efficiency in homes and office places.

    (2) Industry

    • IoT’s effects may vary from industry to industry based on its utilization.
    • In the manufacturing sector, IoT can be utilized to enhance performance, minimize human-induced errors and consequently improve the overall quality of the manufactured products.
    • In the IT sector, utilization of IoT can result in improvement in services, development of more advanced software and digital services, etc.

    (3) Agriculture

    • IoT can be utilized to collect data about rainfall, soil moisture, soil nutrients, pest infestation, etc.
    • It can assist in making informed decisions to increase agricultural production as well as reducing the risks of crop failures etc.
    • It can help make agriculture profitable with better price-discovery for farmers through smart techniques.

    (4) Healthcare

    • Medical practitioners and doctors can use IoT to remotely monitor the patient’s health.
    • Smart beds can detect when the patient is trying to get up, his abnormal activities, etc.
    • Specialized sensors for senior citizens can be developed with the help of IoT.
    • Wearable heart monitors can help monitor the heartbeats, blood pressure of patients, etc.
    • It can revolutionize telemedicine applications.

    (5) Media

    • Corporate media houses can utilize IoT to monitor consumer habits for the purpose of behavior targeting = display consumer-specific advertisements. They can utilize Big Data and Data Mining for this purpose.

    (6) Transportation

    • IoT can be used in driverless cars and improve intra-vehicular communication to reduce accidents and traffic jams etc.
    • We can use it for electronic toll collections, smart parking, smart traffic management, etc.
    • IoT can be useful in logistics, fleet management, safety assistance, etc.

    (7) Smart cities

    • IoT can be utilized in solid waste management systems to improve the cleanliness of the city.
    • Smart meters and power grids can improve energy efficiency and reduce transmission loss.
    • IoT can be used to track the air pollution levels in the cities and give a warning when it breaches the prescribed safety levels.
    • IoT can also be used to develop smart transportation systems to minimize congestion in the cities.

    (8) Smart Retail

    • IoT provides an opportunity to retailers to connect with the customers to enhance the in-store experience. Interacting through Smartphones and using Beacon technology can help retailers serve their consumers better.
    • They can also track consumers’ paths through a store and improve store layout and place premium products in high traffic areas.

    (9) Energy Engagement

    • Power grids of the future will not only be smart enough but also highly reliable.
    • The basic idea behind the smart grids is to collect data in an automated fashion and analyze the behavior or electricity consumers and suppliers for improving efficiency as well as the economics of electricity use.
    • Smart Grids will also be able to detect sources of power outages more quickly and at individual household levels like a nearby solar panels, making possible distributed energy systems.

    What is the case with India?

    • IoT is the natural evolution of the internet and has many benefits including boosting global economies, improving public utilities, and increasing efficiencies.
    • Many of our global counterparts have already begun reaping the rewards of investing in IoT-based infrastructure.
    • The Indian government outlined a plan to leverage IoT as part of the Digital India mission.
    • The Indian IoT market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2020 and constitute 5% of the global market.
    • Investing in IoT will boost our economy on par with global leaders and it will also bring in investments, create jobs and improve Indian public infrastructure

    What are the measures taken by the government to promote IoT?

    • The central government launched a plan to utilize IoT as part of the Digital India mission.
    • The government came up with the National Digital Communications Policy 2018 to satisfy the modern realities of the telecom such as 5G technology, IoT, Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, etc.
    • The government also allowed 100% FDI in the telecom sector. This will help in the development and growth of the IoT.
    • Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY) has published a draft policy for IoT. The target is to establish an IoT market of USD 15 billion by 2020 and having a share of 5-6% in the global IoT industry.

    Challenges with the IoT

    • Data Breach: Having access to data is excellent. Unfortunately, our personal data is more exposed.
    • Dependence on Technology: IoT is mainly dependent on the internet connection. When there is none, it can’t be used.
    • Complexity in Operation: IoT may seem to be managing tasks with ease, a lot of complex operations are done behind it. If by mistake the software makes a wrong calculation, this will affect the rest of the process.
    • Our Safety: As all the household appliances, industrial machinery, public sector services and many other devices all are connected to the Internet, a lot of information is available on it. This information is prone to attack by hackers. It would be very disastrous if private and confidential information is accessed by unauthorized intruders.
    • Inter Compatibility: As devices from various manufacturers will be interconnected to each other, the issue of compatibility in tagging and monitoring increases. This disadvantage can be overcome if manufacturers make a common standard, but there is still a possibility that the technical problems may still persist.
    • Lesser Employment of Menial Staff: The uneducated workers and helpers may lose their jobs as an effect of automation of daily activities. This can lead to unemployment in the society.
    • Technology Takes Control of Life: Our lives are increasingly controlled by technology and will be dependent on it. The younger generation is already addicted to technology for every little work to be done.

    How is IoT impacting the digital transformation of education?

    • Tracking movement: Integrated systems of IoT, which automatically transmit information about the child boarding the bus, the bus reaching the school, and the child entering the school premises, can be available to both parents and teachers via an app and automated messages.
    • Attendance system: Teachers and faculty members need not waste time on roll call. Instead, the student’s identity card automatically communicates with the sensors in the classroom and marks attendance.
    • Automatic sharing: Taking notes and marking critical points is an integral part of a student’s class activity. But, with IoT, all the contents on the black/whiteboard is automatically converted into a portable document and shared over email.
    • Session capture: An IoT environment automatically captures a classroom session (audio and video) and puts it on a shareable drive. This can be accessed by those students who missed the class. This way learning becomes both inclusive and accessible.
    • Ensuring security: With COVID-19 still doing the rounds, an IoT-based system integrated with CCTVs can scan the campus and spot people who are not wearing masks. The coordinates can be sent as an SMS and an email to the administrative authority for further action.
    • Read and translate: IoT can also be used to quickly scan editable text from books, papers, and other documents directly into a phone, tablet or computer and translate into more than 40 languages.

    Way forward

    • IoT makes life easier at the cost of privacy and hence Data Protection Bill can do a lot well in ensuring the privacy of an individual.
    • Policy-makers, regulators, device manufacturers, supporting industries, and service providers will all have to join hands in creating a safer space online.
    • In India, the NDCP (National Digital Communications Policy) brought alignment from critical stakeholders to advance India’s infrastructure and security around digital communications.
    • The draft IoT policy seeks to establish committees to govern and drive IoT-specific initiatives. It is not yet clear how much access to personal data these committees get and how their actions will be monitored.
    • The Justice Srikrishna Committee had recommended some provisions for personal data protection including a consumer’s right to information, consent, and right to request companies to erase their data if preferred.

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  • Taiwan: An important ally in the battle against authoritarianism

    Context

    President Joe Biden-led Summit for Democracy was held on December 9-10. The summit was driven by the idea that in the face of populism, authoritarianism it is critical to keep the “democratic” flock together.

    The salience of Summit for Democracy

    • As a goal in itself: The salience of this summit lies in a deeper understanding that democracy is not just a form of government, it is a goal in itself, a value that must be cherished, preserved and celebrated.
    • Democracy as a way of life: Unlike other political systems, democracy is also a way of life — a work in progress that needs sustained attention and careful nurturing to make it more resilient.

    Taiwan as a desired partner of like-minded democracies

    • Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy (NSP) was launched in 2016 to bring Asia closer to Taiwan and vice-versa.
    • The NSP is aimed to be a pivotal tool to engage like-minded democracies in the region.
    • Role in the post-pandemic world: The post-pandemic world would be more invested in some of these areas — for example, health diplomacy and collaboration in the medical sector, climate change mitigation, and developing sustainable and resilient supply chains.
    • Platform for semiconductor industry: Taiwan is already proving its efficacy as a viable platform for the semiconductor industry.
    • Resilient supply chain mechanism: The US and its friends in the region, particularly India, Japan and Australia, have been proactively exploring possibilities of creating resilient supply chain mechanisms.
    • With its technological knowhow, and shared interests and concerns, Taiwan fits perfectly in this agenda.
    • EU’s renewed interest in Indo-Pacific: Greater interactions between Taiwan and EU on the technology cooperation front, stimulated by the latter’s renewed interest in the Indo-Pacific region, makes Taiwan a desired partner of fellow democracies.
    •  As an industrialised democracy, Taiwan could play an important role, especially since countries are trying to reduce dependence on China and establish supply chain resilience.

    Conclusion

    It is important for liberal democracies to acknowledge that they are facing similar challenges and view Taiwan as an indispensable partner. Deft diplomacy is in order since transnational challenges demand joint efforts by liberal democracies.

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  • India-Australia soon to have FTA

    India and Australia are expected to complete negotiations for an interim free trade agreement (FTA) soon, a move aimed at boosting economic ties between the two countries.

    Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)

    • The final agreement is officially dubbed as the CECA is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
    • The pact covers areas such as goods, services, investment, rules of origin, customs facilitation, legal and institutional issues.
    • This new strategic economic agreement is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods to $100 billion within five years.

    What is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)?

    • A FTA is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them.
    • Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange.
    • The concept of free trade is the opposite of trade protectionism or economic isolationism.

    Key benefits offered by FTA

    • Reduction or elimination of tariffs on qualified: For example, a country that normally charges a tariff of 12% of the value of the incoming product will rationalize or eliminate that tariff.
    • Intellectual Property Protection: Protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the FTA partner country is upheld.
    • Product Standards: FTA enhances the ability for domestic exporters to participate in the development of product standards in the FTA partner country.
    • Fair treatment for investors: FTA provides treatment as favorably as the FTA partner country gives equal treatment for investments from the partner country.
    • Elimination of monopolies: With FTAs, global monopolies are eliminated due to increased competition.

    How many FTAs does India have?

    • India has signed it’s first Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka in 1998.
    • Likewise, India had FTAs with: Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, ASEAN, Japan and Malaysia.
    • India has signed Preferential Trade Agreements such as:
    1. Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) with Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Republic of Korea, and Sri Lanka
    2. Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP)
    3. India – MERCOSUR PTA etc. with South American countries

    Back2Basics: Types of Trade Agreements

    (1) Free Trade Agreement

    (discussed above)

    (2) Preferential Trade Agreement

    • In this type of agreement, two or more partners give preferential right of entry to certain products.
    • This is done by reducing duties on an agreed number of tariff lines.
    • Here a positive list is maintained i.e. the list of the products on which the two partners have agreed to provide preferential access.
    • Tariff may even be reduced to zero for some products even in a PTA.
    • India signed a PTA with Afghanistan.

    (3) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

    • Partnership agreement or cooperation agreement are more comprehensive than an FTA.
    • CECA/CEPA also looks into the regulatory aspect of trade and encompasses and agreement covering the regulatory issues.
    • CECA has the widest coverage. CEPA covers negotiation on the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership.
    • It may even consider negotiation on areas such as trade facilitation and customs cooperation, competition, and IPR.
    • India has signed CEPAs with South Korea and Japan.

    (4) Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

    • CECA generally cover negotiation on trade tariff and Tariff rate quotas (TRQs) rates only.
    • It is not as comprehensive as CEPA.
    • India has signed CECA with Malaysia.

    (5) Framework Agreement

    • Framework agreement primarily defines the scope and provisions of orientation of the potential agreement between the trading partners.
    • It provides for some new area of discussions and set the period for future liberalisation.
    • India has previously signed framework agreements with the ASEAN, Japan etc.

    (6) Early Harvest Scheme

    • An Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) is a precursor to an FTA/CECA/CEPA between two trading partners. For example, early harvest scheme of RCEP has been rolled out.
    • At this stage, the negotiating countries identify certain products for tariff liberalization pending the conclusion of actual FTA negotiations.
    • An Early Harvest Scheme is thus a step towards enhanced engagement and confidence building.

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  • An opportunity for Digital India

    Context

    India is pioneering the concept of digital public goods, with it, there is an opportunity for India to embark on digital diplomacy.

    Digital public goods in India

    • Built on the foundation of Aadhaar and India Stack, modular applications, big and small, are transforming the way we make payments, withdraw our PF, get our passport and driving licence and check land records, to name just a few activities.
    • There is an opportunity for India to embark on digital diplomacy — to take its made-in-India digital public goods to hundreds of emerging economies across the world.

    How Digital Diplomacy can help India?

    • This could be a strategic and effective counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
    • Enhancing the productivity of emerging economies: Emerging economies are characterised by gross inefficiencies in the delivery of government services and a consequent trust deficit.
    • Digital public goods spread speed, transparency, ease and productivity across the individual-government-market ecosystem and enhance inclusivity, equity and development at scale.
    • Acceptance in emerging economies: India’s digital diplomacy will be beneficial to and welcomed by, all emerging economies from Peru to Polynesia, from Uruguay to Uganda, and from Kenya to Kazakhstan.
    • Goodwill: It will enable quick, visible and compounding benefits for India’s partner countries and earn India immense goodwill.

    Benefits of Digital diplomacy

    • Reusability: The code is highly reusable
    • Low cost: The cost of setting up an open source-based high school online educational infrastructure, to supplement the physical infrastructure, for an entire country is less than laying two kilometres of high-quality road.
    • No debt trap: The investments required for transporting digital public goods are minuscule in comparison and there is no chance of a debt trap.
    • Short gestation period: Unlike physical infrastructures such as ports and roads, digital public goods have short gestation periods and immediate, and visible impact and benefits.
    • It plugs leaks: Digital infrastructure plugs leaks.
    • It eliminates ghost beneficiaries of government services, removes touts collecting rent, creates an audit trail, makes the individual-government-market interface transparent and provides efficiencies that help recoup the investments quickly.
    • Processes get streamlined and wait times for any service come down dramatically.
    • Increases productivity: Productivity goes up and services can be scaled quickly.
    • Benefits can be rapidly extended to cover a much larger portion of the population.
    • Compounding instead of depreciation: Above all, the digital public goods infrastructure compounds while physical infrastructure depreciates.

    Three ways in which digital public goods infrastructure compound

    • Compounding happens for three reasons.
    • [1] Growth of technologyy: Chips keep becoming faster, engines more powerful, and gene-editing technology keeps improving.
    • [2] Network effect: As more and more people use the same technology, the number of “transactions” using that technology increase exponentially — be it Facebook posts or UPI transactions.
    • [3] Rapid creation of new layers of technology: For example, the hypertext protocol created the worldwide web.
    • Then the browser was built on top of it, which made the worldwide web easier to navigate and more popular.
    • Thousands of new layers were added to make it what it is today.
    • Growth of UPI in India: To give an example, consider the surge in UPI-based payments in India.
    • This kind of growth doesn’t happen with a few entitled and privileged people using UPI more and more; it happens with more and more people using UPI more and more.
    • Use of Diksha: The use of Diksha, the school education platform built on the open-source platform Sunbird, has followed the same trajectory — today close to 500 million schoolchildren are using it.

    Conclusion

    Made in India digital tools can help other emerging economies deal with economic, governance challenges.

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  • A lack of political will to end the Palk Bay conflict

    Context

    The arrest of 68 Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities between December 18 and 20 and the impounding of 10 boats for “poaching” in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka has flared up the conflict between the two countries.

    About Palk Bay

    • Palk Bay is home to diverse resources including 580 species of fish, extends from Point Calimere of Nagapattinam district to Mandapam-Dhanushkodi of Ramanathapuram district over about 250 km.
    • Source of dispute: It is an important marine zone between south-eastern India and northern Sri Lanka, has been a source of dispute for long.

    About the conflict

    • Negotiations: The genesis of the dispute can be traced to the October 1921 negotiations between representatives of the Governments of Madras and Ceylon, on the need for the delimitation of the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
    • Delimitation: It was in the mid-1970s that two agreements were signed by India and Sri Lanka, under which the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) came into being.
    • Instead of settling the issues, the pacts gave way to new problems, including the recurring incidents of Tamil Nadu fishermen crossing the IMBL and getting caught by the Sri Lankan authorities.

    Cause of the problem

    • Different fishing practices: The asymmetric nature of fishing practices in Tamil Nadu and the Northern Province of Sri Lanka is said to be the cause of the problem.
    • While Tamil Nadu’s fishing community uses mechanised bottom trawlers, its counterpart uses conventional forms of fishing, as trawling is banned in Sri Lanka.
    • Difference in resources: The fishermen of Tamil Nadu continue to cross the IMBL, as the Sri Lankan side of the Bay is considered to have more fishery resources than the Indian side.

    Way forward

    • Weak away fishermen from trawling: The deep-sea fishing project,  to wean away the fishermen of Tamil Nadu from bottom trawling, launched in July 2017, has not yielded the desired results.
    • Relaxation of norms of the project is under the consideration of the Union Government, to draw greater response from the fishermen.
    • Motivation for deep-sea fishing: Given the fact that deep sea fishing takes longer duration and has a higher recurring cost per voyage than what the fishing community experiences currently, the need for providing continuous motivation to the fisherfolk assumes critical importance.
    • Other strategies: Various strategies, including the promotion of seaweed cultivation, open sea cage cultivation, seaweed cultivation and processing, and sea/ocean ranching should be adopted.
    • Forming FPOs: There is a view that if the community is encouraged to form fish farmer producer organisations, it may take to sustainable fishing practices.
    • Institution of stakeholders: A section of specialists favours the creation of an international institution of stakeholders for regulating the fishing sector in the Bay.

    Consider the question “What leads to the dispute between India and Sri Lanka over the Palk Bay? Suggest the way forward for fishermen in Tamil Nadu.”

    Conclusion

    For all this to happen, sustained public pressure and political will are a must.

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    Back2Basics: What is bottom trawling?

    • A bottom trawl consists of a large tapered net with a wide mouth and a small enclosed end.
    • The mouth of a trawl net has two weighted doors that serve not only to keep the net open, but also to keep the net on the ocean floor.
    • These doors can weigh several tons.
    • In addition to the heavy doors, the bottom of the net is a thick metal cable (footrope) studded with heavy steel balls or rubber bobbins that effectively crush everything in their path.
    • As the net drags along the seafloor, living habitat in its path is crushed, ripped up, or smothered as the seabed is turned over.

  • Vying for influence over Kabul

    Context

    On December 19, Pakistan hosted a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the crisis in Afghanistan.

    The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and how regional countries are responding to it

    • The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is peaking with no basic amenities available for its population and a harsh winter ahead.
    • While Pakistan hosted the OIC, India played host to foreign ministers of Central Asian states where Afghanistan topped the agenda as well.
    • All the attending countries — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan — also OIC members, chose to prioritise deliberations with New Delhi.

    Qatar’s growing influence in Afghanistan and implications for the region

    • Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Pakistan were the only three countries that had officially recognised the previous Taliban government in 1996, until its fall in 2001.
    • Fast forward to the 2010s, and it was the small but rich state of Qatar that became the mediating force on Afghanistan.
    • Doha hosted the official Taliban political office from 2013 to allow negotiations with the U.S.
    • Qatar’s new role on Afghanistan gave it significant diplomatic and political visibility the world over.
    • In West Asia, Qatar’s growing influence was causing unease in the traditional power centres in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, specifically on issues such as the Qatari leadership’s support for political Islam and organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Fundamental changes

    • Economic blockade: In 2017 the UAE and Saudi Arabia initiated an economic blockade against Doha in the hope of reigning the Kingdom in and disallowing it from pursuing its geopolitical designs that were challenging the long-held power status quos.
    • This four-year long impasse ended in 2021.
    • These four years created fundamental changes within the larger Arab Gulf construct.
    • Qatar mitigated risk and moved closer towards Turkey and Iran.
    • Today, both Qatar and Turkey are bidding to operate a landlocked Afghanistan’s airports under the Taliban regime.
    • For the Gulf specifically, Qatar’s punching-above-its-weight approach in geopolitics was also making it more powerful and influential with Washington D.C.
    • To mitigate this, the Saudis played a central role during the recent OIC special session.
    •  They repaired their broken relationship with Pakistan.

    Way forward for India

    • Over the past decade, India has recognised the importance of middle powers in the Arab Gulf to a fast-evolving global order, from fighting against terrorism to newer diplomacy challenges such as Afghanistan.

    Conclusion

    The Arab Gulf is poised to become an important player once again in Afghanistan under the shadow of the Taliban.

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  • [Burning Issue] India-Japan Ties in Recent Times

    Introduction

    India’s growing economic strength in recent years has seen it adopting its foreign policy to increase its global influence and status and to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In the past few years, New Delhi has expanded its strategic vision, most noticeably in Asia, and has broadened the definition of its security interests. As a result, India-Japan relations have undergone a paradigmatic shift which has seen an attempt to build a strategic and global partnership between the two countries.

    Background of India-Japan Ties

    [I] Ancient times

    • The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilization ties dating back to the visit of Indian monk Bodhisena in 752 AD.
    • The people of India and Japan have engaged in cultural exchanges, primarily as a result of Buddhism, which spread indirectly from India to Japan, via China and Korea.

    [II] India’s freedom movement

    • Independence movement: The leader of the Indian Independence Movement, Rash Behari Bose was instrumental in forging India–Japan relations during India’s independence movement.
    • During World War II, The British occupiers of India and Japan were enemies during World War II.  Subhas Chandra Bose used Japanese sponsorship to form the Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army (INA).

    [III] Present times

    • Pokhran nuclear test: In 1998, Japan imposed sanctions on India following the Pokhran-II, an Indian nuclear weapons test, which included the suspension of all political exchanges and the cutting off of economic assistance. These sanctions were lifted three years later.
    • Both nations share core values of democracy, peace, the rule of law, tolerance, and respect for the environment in realising pluralistic and inclusive growth of the region

    Post cold war relations

    • The end of cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the inauguration of economic reforms in India seemed to mark the beginning of a new era in Indo-Japanese relationship.
    • India’s “Look East Policy” posited Japan as a key partner.
    • Japan being the only victim of nuclear holocaust, Pokhran –II tests of India in May 1998 brought bitterness in the bilateral relations where Japan asked India to sign NNPT.
    • Tokyo’s relation with India showed signs of an upswing when Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori came on an official 5 day visit to India in August 2000.

    Recent developments in India-Japan Relationship

    (1) India-Italy-Japan trilateral partnership

    • Recently, Italy has also begun to signal its intention to enter the Indo-Pacific geography.
    • It has done so by seeking to join India and Japan in a trilateral partnership.
    • Italy has become more vocal on the risks emanating from China’s strategic competitive initiatives.
    • On the Indian side, there is great interest in forging new partnerships with like-minded countries interested in preserving peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

    (2) 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue

    • The 2+2 ministerial dialogue is seen as an upgrade of the meeting between foreign and defense secretaries of the two countries, the first round of which took place in 2010.
    • The ministerial level meeting was held after a decision to institute a Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue was taken during the 13th India-Japan Annual Summit held in Japan in 2018.
    • 2+2 meeting aimed to give further momentum to their special strategic partnership, particularly in the maritime domain.

    (3) Supply Chain Resilience Initiative

    • Recently India, Australia and Japan formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. The initiative was launched to counter the dominance of China in the Global Supply Chain.
    • It aims to prevent disruptions in the supply chain as seen during COVID-19 pandemic.
    • The initiative will mainly focus on diversification of investment and digital technology adoption.

    (4) Other MEA led-bilateral dialogues

    • The Act East Forum, established in 2017, aims to provide a platform for India-Japan collaboration under the rubric of India’s “Act East Policy” and Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision”.
    • At the Second meeting of the Act East forum, both sides agreed to focus on expanding of Japanese language in North East, training of caregivers under Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), capacity building in area of bamboo value chain development and Disaster Management.
    • The inaugural India-Japan Space Dialogue was held in Delhi for enhancing bilateral cooperation in outer space and information exchange on the respective space policies.

    (5) Currency Swap Agreement

    • Japan and India have entered into a $75-billion currency swap arrangement that will bolster the country’s firepower as it battles a steep drop in the rupee’s value.
    • A currency swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange a series of cash flows denominated in one currency for those denominated in another for a predetermined period of time.
    • The deal will help the two countries to swap their currencies for U.S. dollars to stabilise the rupee which has witnessed the steepest fall in recent years.

    Areas of cooperation

    (1) Economic and Commercial relations

    • Japan is regarded as a key partner in India’s economic transformation.
    • Japan’s interest in India is increasing due to a variety of reasons including India’s large and growing market and its resources, especially the human resources.
    • India’s bilateral trade with Japan stood at US$ 16.95 billion in FY 2019-20. India’s imports during this period were US$ 12.43 billion and exports were US$ 4.52 billion.
    • India’s primary exports to Japan are petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish & fish preparations, metalliferous ores & scrap, clothing & accessories, iron & steel products, textile yarn, fabrics and machinery etc.
    • India’s primary imports from Japan are machinery, electrical machinery, iron and steel products, plastic materials, non-ferrous metals, parts of motor vehicles, organic chemicals, etc.

    Investment and Official Development Assistance (ODA)

    • From 2000 until September 2020, the Japanese investments in India cumulatively stands at around US$ 34.152 billion (Japan ranks fifth among the largest source of investment).
    • Japanese FDI during FY 2019-2020 increased to US$ 3.226 billion compared to US$ 2.96 billion in FY 2018-19.
    • The number of Japanese companies registered in India stands at more than 1460. Similarly, number of Indian companies operating in Japan is also increasing, with the number now over 100.
    • The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) with twelve industrial townships, Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) are some mega project with Japanese cooperation on the anvil.

    (2) Security and Defence

    • India-Japan Defence and Security partnership has evolved over the years and today forms an integral pillar of bilateral ties.
    • QUAD: Formed in 2007 and revived in 2017 The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD, also known as the Quad) is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India.
    • The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
    • The diplomatic and military arrangement was widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power.
    • In spite of the pandemic, complex exercises in all domains were conducted including MALABAR 2020, Japan India maritime exercise (JIMEX 2020) and PASSEX, showcasing the trust and interoperability between the navies.

    (3) Strategic

    • After the cold war Japan looked out to extend its diplomatic options beyond US and India became the best option possible.
    • 2+2 dialogue is taking place between the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries to deepen the global partnership.
    • It is also agreed to establish the India–Japan–United States trilateral dialogue on regional and global issues of shared interest.
    • Both countries also reiterated their determination to work together under the UNFCCC, WTO, etc.
    • Japan and India are working together to realize the reform of Security Council at the earliest.
    • There is a beginning of India-Japan-Australia trilateral dialogue to evolve an open, inclusive, stable and transparent economic, political and security architecture in the indo-pacific region.

    (4) India-Japan Digital Partnership (IJDP) and Start-up Hub

    • The MOC on Digital Partnership envisaged cooperation in five sub-areas:

    1) Start-up Initiative

    2) Corporate Partnership

    3) ESDM promotion

    4) Digital talent exchange

    5) R&D Cooperation

    6) Security related strategic collaboration

    (5) Disaster Risk Reduction

    • An Agreement on joint research in the field of Earthquake Disaster Prevention was signed between Fujita Corporation and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R).

    (6) Skill Development

    • India-Japan MoC signed in 2016 to train 30,000 shop floor leaders over 10 years thereby also contributing to India’s flagship initiatives such as “Skill India” and “Make in India”.
    • Japanese companies have established 13 Japan-India Institute of Manufacturing (JIM) in India and 5 Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC) in Indian Engineering Colleges.

    (7) Health-care

    • In view of the similarities and synergies between the goals and objectives of India’s AYUSHMAN Bharat Programme and Japan’s AHWIN, both sides consulted with each other to identify projects to build the narrative of AHWIN for AYUSHMAN Bharat.
    • Japan is supporting India to contain COVID-19 and mitigate its adverse socioeconomic impacts by extending budgetary support to the GoI and implementing emergency response programs for the health sector.

    (8) Education Cooperation

    • As on December 2020, there were over 300 academic and research partnerships (including student exchanges) between more than 70 universities/institutes of Japan and around 105 universities/institutes of India.
    • These partnerships range from liberal arts to management & business studies, legal studies, international studies, linguistics, ayurveda, STEM including fast emerging frontier technologies.
    • The students & teacher exchange and scholarship programmes, especially short-term, are enabling a large number of Indian students and teachers to visit and experience Japan and vice versa.

    (9) S&T Cooperation

    • Bilateral S&T cooperation was formalized through an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed in 1985.
    • Recent initiatives – three India-Japan Joint Laboratories in the area of ICT (AI, IoT and Big Data) and initiation of Dept. of Science and Tech (DST)-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship Programme for the young researchers.

    (10) Energy

    • The two sides have launched an Energy Dialogue to promote cooperation in the energy sector in a comprehensive manner.
    • The areas of cooperation include oil and natural gas, coal, electric power, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and other relevant sectors.
    • In 2015, India and Japan reached on substantive Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. India becomes the first non NPT signed country to do so.

    What lies at the fulcrum of ties?

    • First of all, Japan is the most mature economy in this region. In terms of maturity, sophistication, and experience in international economic engagements, Japan excels every other country of the Indo-Pacific region, excluding the United States.
    • Its technological marvels, business strategies, and management skills are second to none.
    • Japan rarely hits the international headlines and it is actually Japan’s feebleness in the world of political advertisements.
    • Japan sooner than later will be a leading player in the political economy as well as security fields of the Indo-Pacific region.
    • Its aging population is a major concern and Japan very well acknowledges this fact. While increasing the domestic birth rate will always be important, it is a position to devise a new immigration policy that would largely benefit Indians.
    • Japan has the distinction of being the only foreign power that has been allowed to undertake infrastructure and other projects in India’s sensitive northeast.
    • Finally, Japan has never been an adversary of India and the current global as well as regional distribution of power and strategic scenario necessitate a deeper and expansive Indo-Japan strategic teamwork.

    Way forward

    • Taking advantage of its considerable assets — the world’s third-largest economy, substantial high-tech skills, and a military freed of some legal and constitutional constraints — Japan is largely perceived as a natural ally to India.
    • At a time of global geopolitical flux, the two are among the important countries that have taken up the baton to champion freedom, international norms and rules, inclusivity, and free and fair trade.
    • If Japan and India continue to add concrete security content to their relationship, their strategic partnership could potentially be a game-changer in Asia.
    • The emphasis on boosting trade and investment must be balanced with greater strategic collaboration.
    • Both countries can contribute to the larger effort to build strategic equilibrium, power stability and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.
    • India and Japan have forged a special relationship, which is set to strengthen and deepen in the coming years.